Many dead after airstrike in Gaza City
Israeli missiles have hit a school compound in Gaza City where a refugee shelter and a prayer room serving as a mosque had been set up. Palestinian sources say more than 100 civilians died in the attack. The Israeli military described the operation as a precision strike on a Hamas command centre. Europe's press struggles to find the right words.
A massacre is a massacre
The Süddeutsche Zeitung reflects:
“When a warhead explodes with great force and razor-sharp, burning splinters are scattered across dozens of metres, there is no precision. There is just death and laceration. Which is why precision bombings generally kill people who are not targets too. ... The military may be willing to accept this, but firing three missiles into a crowded prayer room requires a clear calculation on the part of those responsible. If the target is that valuable, the officers may have to accept the death of bystanders (even if they would never admit it and present it to the public as 'collateral damage'). ... Nevertheless: a massacre is a massacre.”
Ceasefire and new governments
Die Presse explains what needs to be done as soon as possible:
“It's time for the madness to end: with a ceasefire, the release of all Israeli hostages and, ideally, the handing over of power in Gaza to the PLO autonomous authority. Admittedly, this is currently an unrealistic exit scenario, but perhaps the only hope of averting a large-scale Middle East war. ... And after that, there will hopefully soon be new elections in Israel and an end to the Netanyahu era. It will take longer for the Iranian regime to fall. But even the mullahs will not be able to rule against their own people forever. Only then will the Middle East have a peaceful future.”
One-sided criticism of Israel bolsters terrorists
In The Spectator, columnist Limor Simhony Philpott comments angrily that many Western governments and organisations only criticise Israel:
“No word was said about Hamas, or that their use of schools is the reason such buildings are targeted by the IDF. ... Hamas hopes that Israel will be pressured into dropping the pursuit of its members. This will allow them to continue to rule Gaza and to carry on their campaign of terrorism against Israel with the ultimate goal of annihilating it. So far, it seems that many onlookers, among them Middle Eastern and European countries, are playing right into the hands of terrorists.”