GAZA: Rescuers in Gaza said Zionists conducted a deadly airstrike on Thursday on a school housing families displaced by the war. While Zionist entity has widened its military operations to Lebanon since last month, pounding Hezbollah strongholds around the country and battling militants near the border, it has also escalated in recent days its strikes on Gaza. The strike on Rafida School in central Gaza, which according to the Palestinian Red Crescent killed 28 people and wounded 54 others, follows the widening of Zionist operations in the north of the territory.

The Zionist army said the strike targeted Palestinian militants operating from a command and control center “embedded inside a compound that previously served as the (Rafida) School”. Zionists accuse Hamas of hiding in school buildings and other civilian infrastructure where thousands of Gazans have sought shelter - a charge the Palestinian militants deny.

While Zionist entity received international support in its bid to crush Hamas and bring the hostages home, it has faced criticism over its conduct of the war. Speaking to reporters about the humanitarian situation in northern Gaza, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Washington was “incredibly concerned” as Zionist entity tightens its siege. “We have been making clear to the government that they have an obligation under international humanitarian law to allow food and water and other needed humanitarian assistance to make it into all parts of Gaza,” he said.

Zionists expanded a military operation around Jabalia in northern Gaza, where about 400,000 people are trapped, according to Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. Lazzarini said on X there was “no end to hell” in the area and that “recent evacuation orders from the Zionist authorities are forcing people to flee again & again”. The army surrounded Jabalia and its refugee camp and shelled it, preventing the delivery of aid, Gaza’s civil defense agency said.

The United States has also urged Zionist entity to avoid Gaza-like military action in Lebanon, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it could face “destruction” like the Palestinian territory.

The comments came after a phone call between Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden, their first in seven weeks. The White House said Biden told Netanyahu to “minimize harm” to civilians in Lebanon, particularly in “densely populated areas of Beirut”. “There should be no kind of military action in Lebanon that looks anything like Gaza and leaves a result anything like Gaza,” Miller said.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met his Qatari counterpart in Doha on Thursday, after Zionists warned it would retaliate against his country for a missile attack last week. Qatar has played a key role in efforts to secure Gaza ceasefire and has called for a truce in Lebanon. The wars were the subject of “important consultations” between Araghchi and his counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said on social media platform X.

“It is only responsible for all states to maximize their efforts to shield our region against an imposed catastrophe by stopping genocide in Gaza and aggression on Lebanon,” he said after the talks. Qatar’s foreign ministry said the pair “discussed the latest developments in the region, especially in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon”. Sheikh Mohammed, also Qatar’s prime minister, communicated his country’s “full readiness to do everything possible to enhance security and stability at the regional and international levels”, it added.

Araghchi’s visit came after Zionists vowed to retaliate for Iran’s massive missile last week, stoking fears of a wider war in the Middle East. Zionist Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned the response against Iran would be “deadly, precise and surprising”. On Wednesday, Araghchi was in Saudi Arabia where he met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan. Tehran had said the talks were aimed at providing “better conditions” for Palestinians and Lebanese under attacks. - AFP