Germany says Israeli strike on Gaza school killing 100 Palestinians was ‘self-defence’

In response to Israeli forces last week bombing Gaza’s al-Tabin school, which killed more than 100 displaced Palestinians sheltering there, Germany said “Israel has the right to defend itself”.

Speaking to reporters at a press conference in Berlin on Monday, government deputy spokesman Wolfgang Buechner reiterated that “Israel has the right to defend itself” when asked about Germany’s response to Israel’s strike on Saturday, the Anadolu news agency reported.

“The reality is that Hamas uses schools, hospitals, kindergartens as command centres and that the people in the Gaza Strip are also abused against their will as protective [human] shields,” Buechner added, and warned of “one-sided reports that are distributed by Hamas” and not “believing everything that is spread by this side”.

The strike targeted the Tabin school in Gaza City at dawn, killing at least 100 Palestinians during early morning prayers. Most of the victims were children and the elderly.

The Tabin school, like over half of Gaza’s schools, was being used as a shelter for displaced people. The building housed more than 1,000 people and has recently received dozens more after people in the town of Beit Hanoun followed orders by the Israeli military to move.

After the attack, the Israeli army said in a statement that it targeted a “command and control centre” that “served as a hideout for Hamas terrorists and commanders”, but did not provide any evidence to back up the claim.

Recent data by Unicef indicates that half of schools used as shelters in Gaza have been directly hit in the last 10 months. Satellite imagery has shown that 85 percent of school buildings (477 out of 564) were directly hit (344) or damaged (133).

Germany’s response was at odds with some reactions by other countries who were quick to condemn the school bombing.

UK’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy said he was “appalled” by the Israeli military strike and the “tragic loss of life”. A statement by the French foreign ministry said that “for several weeks, school buildings have been repeatedly targeted, with an intolerable number of civilian victims. Israel must respect international humanitarian law.”

EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said he was “horrified” by images of the attack. “At least 10 schools were targeted in the last weeks. There’s no justification for these massacres,” Borrell wrote on X.

“Israel has committed a new crime against humanity by massacring more than a hundred civilians who had taken refuge in a school,” Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

US national security spokesperson Sean Savett released a statement saying he was “deeply concerned about reports of civilian casualties”, following the strike on the Tabin school.