Israeli Attack on Al Tabi'een School in Gaza Underscores Desperate Need for Ceasefire, Scaled Up Humanitarian Assistance, UN Political Chief Tells Security Council
The Israeli attack on the al-Tabeen school in Gaza City on 10 August underscored the desperate need to reach a ceasefire, free the hostages, and scale up humanitarian aid to Gaza, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today, as delegates voiced concern over rising regional tensions.
Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, said that, according to local Palestinian sources, the Israel Defense Forces airstrike in the al-Tabeen school compound killed dozens of Palestinians and wounded many others, including women and children. According to Israel, its Forces targeted a Hamas command centre in a mosque inside the compound and killed at least 31 Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters. On 12 August, Hamas announced the killing of a hostage and serious injury of two others by Hamas militants while in captivity in Gaza. She said that with hostilities continuing across the Strip — including in the north around Gaza City, in the middle area in Khan Younis, and in and around Rafah — “the situation remains catastrophic for civilians”.
“No place is safe in Gaza, yet civilians continue to be ordered to evacuate to ever-shrinking areas,” she said, warning that 10 months since the start of the war, the threat of further regional escalation is “more palpable and chilling than ever”. Exchanges of fire across the Blue Line have continued nearly daily, she said, noting that since her last briefing on 31 July, numerous projectiles have been fired from Lebanon, causing damage to buildings and bushfires in open areas. The Israel Defence Forces responded with strikes while uncrewed aerial vehicles crossing the Blue Line from southern Lebanon have also continued.
She further voiced concern over the worsening situation and ongoing violence in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. On 3 August, the Israel Defense Forces said it conducted two airstrikes on a Hamas cell in Tulkarem, killing nine Palestinians who they said were planning to conduct an attack inside Israel. Also, their separate operations in Jenin and Tubas early last week killed another 16 Palestinians. On 11 August, a shooting attack claimed by Hamas killed one Israeli civilian and wounded another in the northern Jordan Valley. Another Palestinian shooting attack near Qalqilia reportedly injured one Israeli and two Palestinians. “If the slide towards an even greater catastrophe is to be halted, the parties must end all escalatory rhetoric and actions,” she said, calling for regional de-escalation in the interest of long-term peace and stability.
In this regard, she welcomed efforts by Egypt, Qatar and the United States to bring both sides to conclude a deal to bring about a ceasefire, the release of hostages, and desperately needed humanitarian relief. Their call for immediate relief to the people of Gaza and the hostages and their families must be heeded, she stressed, urging all parties to prioritize the protection of civilians and promptly conclude this deal as endorsed by the Security Council in resolution 2735 (2024). However, she cautioned, “in the absence of a clear path towards a future in which Israelis see their legitimate security needs materialize and Palestinians see their legitimate aspirations for a fully independent, viable and sovereign State realized, lasting peace in the Middle East will remain elusive”.
Lisa Doughten, Director of the Financing and Partnerships Division of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, speaking on behalf of acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Joyce Msuya, said that — according to initial reports — the strike on Al Tabi’een School was “one of the deadliest attacks” and “at least the twenty-first strike on a school that has been serving as a shelter recorded since 4 July this year”. Painting a grim picture caused by the “unremitting violence” in Gaza, she reported nearly 40,000 Palestinians killed, over 90,000 injured, and around 10,000 unaccounted for, likely buried under rubble. An estimated 115 hostages remain captive.
She highlighted the dire state of Gaza’s health-care system, with thousands in critical condition awaiting medical evacuations. Over 60 per cent of residential buildings and 65 per cent of roads are damaged or destroyed. “In just two weeks, more than a quarter of a million people have been displaced,” she said, noting that civilians are being killed and injured in places deemed safe. With six poliovirus strains detected in June, she warned that “polio looms as a new threat” and stressed that “health workers must be allowed to carry out an immunization campaign.” The conflict has disrupted education for over half a million students and inflicted long-term psychological trauma that people of all ages will “carry for the rest of their lives”.
“What we are seeing in Gaza is the result of a war waged with pitiful — if any — regard for the requirements of international law,” she said, reiterating civilians’ right to seek protection. She went on to detail the challenges hindering humanitarian aid, including attacks on aid workers, fuel shortages and organized crime, which leave thousands without vital assistance. “Can this Council look the children, the people of Gaza, and all those affected by this war in the eye — as humanitarian workers have to do every day — and swear that no stone has been left unturned to end their suffering?” she asked. Against this backdrop, she called for urgent actions: a ceasefire, adherence to international humanitarian law and the provision of unhindered humanitarian aid. “I urge this Council and all Member States to use your influence to […] end this conflict and its intolerable toll,” she said.
“Is this going to be yet another ineffective, vain and hopeless meeting?” asked Algeria’s delegate, adding that “this is not how the Council should address the Palestinians’ plea, their quest for justice and their rights to exist”. For 311 days, the Council has been constantly fooled and disregarded, while an entire population has been subjected to collective punishment. On the Israeli airstrikes on the Al Tabi’een school compound in Gaza, he cited the harrowing testimony of one of the survivors: A father said that “he has been given 18 kilograms of body parts and buried them as the body of his martyred son”. This heinous massacre would not have been possible without the generous military assistance freely provided to the aggressor, he pointed out.
The Permanent Observer for the State of Palestine said that, while the Council demands Israel to stop killing civilians, its Defense Forces target them in their shelters and tents. “As the genocide continues, you have a responsibility to react,” he asserted, adding that the Palestinians in Gaza cannot wait for the tide to turn. “Their agony must stop now, right now,” he insisted. “Do you ever think, what if you were born in Gaza? What if the prisoner raped was your son? What if the children starving to death were your own?” he asked.
However, “every time the world pushes for a ceasefire, Israel responds with a massacre”, he said, stressing that the country cannot continue to defy every rule of humankind. Israel has no right to commit genocide and nothing can justify its actions, he stated, adding that its Government is killing and abandoning the hostages. To those who continue to arm Israel and have the audacity to call on that country “to investigate” its own crimes, he said: “Wake up”. Palestinians are exhausted, “surrounded by death and endless horrors, and they know your words are no match for the bombs and bullets taking away their lives and limbs”, he said, calling on the Council to act.
Israel’s delegate meanwhile countered that the UN is echoing the campaign of lies by the Gaza Ministry of Health — the Hamas — and holding an emergency session based on jihadist propaganda. Once again, “the Council is amplifying terrorist narratives”, neglecting its obligation to the truth, he said, adding that Israel did not target an innocent school but dangerous terrorists operating in a Hamas-controlled centre in Al Tabi’een school. “As usual, Hamas cynically abuses civilian facilities which should be protected as their terror basis,” he said, adding that the Israeli strike eliminated at least 31 Hamas and Palestinian Islamic jihad terrorists who carried out attacks from inside this compound. “We neutralized dozens of vicious terrorists who used the school for their evil goals, in direct violation of international law,” he stated.
The building itself is still intact which would be physically impossible if Hamas’ claims are to be believed, he continued. While Israel is taking every possible measure to minimize collateral damage, Hamas uses civilians as human shields. In the meantime, millions of Israelis are preparing for a direct attack by Iran whose aggression “threatens the entire region with war”, he observed, emphasizing that “Jerusalem will never fall again”, no matter how many times its enemies attempt to destroy it.
Voicing deep concern about reports of civilian casualties following Israel’s strike on a school compound in Gaza, the United States’ representative reiterated that country’s obligation “to do everything possible under international humanitarian law to protect civilians”. Underscoring Israel’s right to pursue Hamas, she emphasized that it “must take measures to minimize civilian harm” and stressed the importance of a ceasefire to end the suffering of the people of Gaza and the hostages. “There is no further time to waste nor excuses from any party for further delay,” she added.
Against this backdrop, she called on both sides to resume urgent discussion on Thursday, 15 August, in Doha or Cairo to close all remaining gaps and commence implementation of the deal without further delay, noting that a ceasefire could restore essential services, enable a vaccination campaign and facilitate the release of hostages. On the escalating regional tensions, she said that the deployment by the United States of additional military assets was “not a prediction of what is to come” but an attempt to “turn the temperature down,” adding: “A broader regional conflict is not inevitable”.
Her counterpart from the United Kingdom said his delegation is “appalled” by the military strike on the school where Palestinian civilians were sheltering. “Sadly, this was not the only Israeli strike on schools-turned-shelters we have seen,” he said, noting that there were 17 such attacks in July alone. Noting that 86 per cent of Gaza is now under evacuation orders, he pointed out: “Some of these orders have been issued by Israel in the middle of the night with minimal notice.” Also expressing horror about the reports of sexual violence and abuse faced by the hostages in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli detention, many of whom are children, he said Hamas must release all the hostages and Israel must grant the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to prisoners.
France’s delegate said it is crucial to end the war, “for the people of Gaza, for the hostages, for the region’s stability.” Condemning the Israeli strikes on Al Tabi’een school, she called for an urgent, immediate and permanent ceasefire in the Strip and the immediate release, without conditions, of all hostages. Also condemning the terrorist attacks committed by Hamas and other terrorist groups, she said a two-State solution is the only way to guarantee stability and security in the region. She also voiced support for extending the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)for another 12 months.
Strongly condemning Israel’s airstrikes on the Al Tabi’een school in Gaza, the representative of China said that attacking in broad daylight a school where a large number of civilians shelter is “a heinous act”. Over the past 10 months, millions of people in Gaza have seen their homes destroyed and forced to move from place to place, “only to be met with indiscriminate bombardment and death”. “As we speak, nowhere is safe in Gaza,” he said, calling for an immediate ceasefire. However, instead of credible signs of Israel’s commitment to a ceasefire, the world is witnessing ever-expanding military operations and uprising civilian casualties. Highlighting Washington, D.C.’s influence over Israel, he urged that country to take sincere actions to push Tel Aviv to stop its military operation in Gaza and slaughtering civilians.
The attacks on the Al Tabi’een school are part of an ongoing pattern employed by the Israeli Defense Forces, characterized by a complete disregard for the humanitarian principle of proportionality, said Guyana’s delegate. Citing Israel’s unrelenting assault against the Palestinian people as “a tragedy of such cruel proportions that it is difficult to find anything comparable in modern history”, she said people are starving and living in the most inhumane conditions imaginable, with virtually no access to medicine and health care. Also, she said, the torture — including sexual violence — to which Palestinian detainees are subject is illustrative of “a level of depravity and debauchery that should never find expression among the agents of a civilized nation, more so a United Nations Member State”.
“Extremely shaken by the Israeli strike on the Al Tabi’een school”, the representative of the Russian Federation painted a grim picture of the horrors and suffering the civilians in Gaza must face daily. At the time, over 2000 refugees were sheltering there and over 100 people died, many women and children. However, this is not an isolated incident, he stressed, adding that — according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) — since 4 July, Israel has carried out 24 strikes on schools where displaced people were located. As a result, 274 people have died.
Faced with this reality, “the Council reminds us more of a passive and powerless bystander who can only report on the worsening situation and express its concern,” he said, noting that 14 Council members are held hostage by the United States, which blocks any action towards an immediate ceasefire. Moreover, he stated, Israel does not intend to stop its military operation, regardless of the Council’s position, as testified by the blatant provocative murder of Hamas’ main negotiator Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Urging the Council to make the Middle East visits a priority, he warned that the entire region is “on the brink of falling into a full-scale war”.
The representative of South Africa expressed regret that some Council members continue to support and defend Israel as it commits “the most despicable crimes against humanity the world has ever seen”. The inability of the Council to find a solution to this “intractable” conflict is an “indictment” on this body, he said, stressing that Israel’s impunity “puts to question the whole meaning of ‘legally binding’.” Recalling the assassination of Hamas leader in Tehran, he cautioned that it will likely “further compound” the situation in a volatile region.
Similarly, the continued occupation of Palestine, destruction of infrastructure, collective punishment and extrajudicial assassinations will make the realization of a peaceful solution to the Palestinian question “much more difficult to achieve,” he stressed. “The Council must immediately ensure respect for its resolutions in line with its mandate if it is to successfully mend ‘the cracks in its foundation’ and avert a situation where these cracks ‘become too large to ignore’,” he emphasized.
Numerous Council members — including Malta — condemned the “horrific” attack on the Al Tabi’een school compound in Gaza and the violations of international humanitarian law committed by all parties. “Killing militants cannot justify killing civilians, including children,” said the delegate from the Republic of Korea, noting that this was Israel’s eighth bombing of a school sheltering civilians so far in August alone. Despite facing numerous challenges in fighting against Hamas, Israel must observe international law, he stressed.
Among many delegates voicing alarm over the exacerbating humanitarian situation in the Strip was Japan’s representative. “Gaza is truly in agony,” she said, pointing out the significant shortages of food, medicine, and fuel, experienced by the Palestinians forced to flee “again and again”. “Starving more than 2 million Palestinians in Gaza cannot be morally justified,” she emphasized, urging Israel to lift all impediments to humanitarian assistance and to protect human dignity.
Spotlighting the recent detection of samples of variant poliovirus, Sierra Leone’s representative, Council President for August, called for “the facilitation of unobstructed access into and within Gaza through all crossing points for all vaccinations”. “The vaccination campaign by the UN and its partners must be made possible without delay,” echoed Switzerland’s delegate.
Expressing concern over the escalatory trend in the region, some members — including Mozambique and Ecuador — underscored the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza, with the representative of Slovenia urging the Council to establish a clear deadline for the conclusion of the deal: “There is no more time to spare. There are no more innocent lives to be wasted”.