An independent UN-appointed expert accused Israel of committing "genocide" in its Gaza war after an Israeli strike targeting a school killed 93 people, according to local rescuers.
"Israel is genociding the Palestinians one neighbourhood at the time, one hospital at the time, one school at the time, one refugee camp at the time, one safe zone at the time," Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the rights situation in Palestinian territories, said on social media platform X.
The strikes hit when people sheltering at the school were performing dawn prayers, leading to many casualties, the Hamas media office said in a statement.
Medics had not yet been able to reach all the bodies, it said.
An Israeli military spokesman said that around 20 Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants were operating from the school.
"The compound, and the mosque that was struck within it, served as an active Hamas and Islamic Jihad military facility," Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said on X.
He added that casualty figures given by the Hamas-run media office "do not align with the information held by the IDF (Israeli Defence Forces), the precise munitions used, and the accuracy of the strike". Israel was carrying out such strikes against Palestinians using "US and European weapons", Ms Albanese said. "May the Palestinians forgive us for our collective inability to protect them," she added.
In a report issued in March, Ms Albanese said there were "reasonable grounds" to determine that Israel had committed several acts of "genocide" in its war in Gaza.
Israel, which has long been highly critical of Ms Albanese and her mandate, denounced her report as an "obscene inversion of reality".
She has said that "of course" she also condemned Hamas for its attack on Israel which triggered ten months of war in Gaza.
Special rapporteurs are appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council but do not speak on behalf of the UN.
Earlier, the IDF said it had taken steps to reduce the risk of harming civilians, "including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and intelligence information".
Hamas said the strike was a horrific crime and a serious escalation. Israel says the militant group embeds among Gaza's civilians, operating from within schools, hospitals and designated humanitarian zones - which Hamas denies.
Egypt's foreign ministry condemned the strike, which came as mediators were pushing to resume ceasefire talks, and said that the killing of Gaza civilians showed Israel had no intention to end the war. Egypt, the United States and Qatar have scheduled a new round of ceasefire negotiations for Thursday, as fears are growing of a broader conflict, involving Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has said he will not end the war until Hamas no longer poses a threat to Israelis, said a delegation would be sent to the 15 August talks. A Hamas official told Reuters the group was studying the new offer for talks but did not elaborate. Israel launched its assault on Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed into southern Israel on 7 October, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and capturing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Since then, nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive in Gaza, according to the Palestinian health ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
Health officials say most the fatalities have been civilian.
Israel says at least a third of the Palestinian fatalities are fighters. Iran-backed Hamas does not publish its casualties.
The air strike on the school brings to at least 14 the number of schools struck in Gaza since 6 July, killing more than 280 according to an AFP tally of tolls previously given by officials in the territory.
Video footage from the scene showed a large complex with a courtyard where debris lay inside and out. Part of the structure appeared to be a mosque, the upper story of which was partially blown out and charred.
