EXCLUSIVE
The Israeli assault on a college in Gaza Metropolis that killed greater than 100 displaced Palestinians was “calculated” to trigger widespread lack of life, an Al Jazeera investigation has discovered.
Al Jazeera’s Sanad fact-checking company has investigated the small print of Israel’s Saturday morning assault on al-Tabin college in Gaza Metropolis, which killed greater than 100 folks, together with ladies and youngsters.
The investigation discovered that the assault was “intentionally deliberate to trigger most casualties” and that “a lot of displaced folks had been intentionally focused,” it stated in an announcement on Tuesday.
To achieve his conclusions, Sanad examined survivors’ testimonies, pictures of the remnants of the bombs used within the assault, pictures displaying how the bombs penetrated the roofs of the mosque hooked up to the college, and documentation of the speedy aftermath of the explosion.
Primarily based on the proof, Sanad stated the Israeli army fired the 2 guided missiles used within the assault at daybreak prayers.
The missiles “penetrated the roof of the mosque, handed by way of the primary flooring, the place the ladies’s chapel is situated, and exploded on the bottom flooring, the place the boys’s chapel is situated,” Sanad stated in his report.
The company added that the fragments of no less than two shells used on this assault had been of the American kind GBU-39 SDB, as confirmed by weapons skilled Trevor Ball. Such a shell is manufactured and exported to the Israeli military by the American firm Boeing.
Relating to the placement and time of influence of the 2 guided missiles, Sanad stated: “It’s clear that the selection was not random.”
“The southern missile fell firstly of the chapel space as prayers had been starting, whereas the northern missile fell within the sleeping space and close to the ablutions and bathrooms the place displaced folks had been getting ready for prayers,” the company stated.
Israeli forces have repeatedly attacked faculties used as secure homes in Gaza, claiming they’re command centres for Hamas, the Palestinian group that guidelines the territory, to cover fighters and manufacture weapons. No less than 5 such assaults have been reported this month.
Sanad disputed the Israeli army’s claims that the assault on Al-Tabin college focused Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters who it stated had been within the males’s prayer corridor on the time.
Al Jazeera stated the assaults occurred throughout prayer time at a mosque serving displaced civilians.
He additionally cited pictures and survivor testimony displaying that, opposite to the Israeli army’s claims, fires broke out in areas exterior the compound that Israel stated it focused solely, killing and maiming civilians.
“The proof strongly means that this was a deliberate and calculated assault geared toward inflicting widespread lack of life,” Sanad stated.
The assault has sparked renewed requires america to cease offering steadfast help to Israel, together with arms transfers that rights advocates say are fuelling atrocities within the Palestinian enclave.
The college “bloodbath” additionally got here amid fears that the Gaza warfare might escalate right into a regional battle following the assassination of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31.
Haniyeh’s killing got here hours after one other Israeli strike in Beirut killed a senior commander of Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed group in Lebanon.
Iran and its allies have blamed Israel for the killings and vowed revenge.
