Israel's bombing of municipality, school in Gaza ‘violation of international laws’: Palestinian National Council

The Palestinian National Council (PNC) on Saturday described the Israeli bombing of the Deir Al-Balah municipality building in central Gaza and a school sheltering displaced people as a "blatant violation of all international laws and norms and a deliberate targeting of defenseless civilians."

"What is happening in Gaza is a major humanitarian crime that reflects the brutality of the occupation and the world's silence over the suffering of an oppressed and besieged people," the Council (Palestine Liberation Organization Parliament) said in a statement.

The PNC noted that the bombing of the Deir Al-Balah municipality building and al-Majda Waseela Secondary School, where displaced people had sought refuge, was "a direct targeting of defenseless civilians, most of whom are women and children."

The National Council urged the international community and "the free world to take immediate action to end the massacres and catastrophes and achieve justice for a people who have long awaited freedom and dignity."

It emphasized the necessity of working to end the "racist siege and bloody war" imposed on the Gaza Strip and to establish an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.

Earlier on Saturday, 10 Palestinians, including Diab Al-Jarou, the mayor of Deir Al-Balah, were killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting the municipality building.

Israeli airstrikes also targeted al-Majda Waseela Secondary School, overcrowded with displaced people in Gaza City, killing seven Palestinians, including children.

Israel has launched a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 44,800 victims, mostly women and children, since an attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, on Oct. 7, 2023.

The second year of genocide in Gaza has drawn growing international condemnation, with officials and institutions labeling the attacks and the blocking of aid deliveries as a deliberate attempt to destroy a population.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last month for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense chief Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on Gaza.