ALGIERS, Algeria

Algeria said Saturday it requested an urgent open UN Security Council session next Tuesday to discuss an Israeli attack on a school sheltering displaced people in Gaza City.

Algeria's request, as a non-permanent member of the Security Council, for the emergency meeting comes "in response to the recent serious developments in the occupied Palestinian territories, especially after the airstrike carried out by the Zionist occupation army on the Al-Tabin school,” the official Algerian news agency reported, citing an unnamed diplomatic source in New York.

It said the "request was made in consultation with the State of Palestine" and "is supported by other member states of the Security Council (not specified)."

At least 100 people were killed and several injured when Israeli aircraft targeted Palestinians performing fajr (dawn) prayers at the Al-Tabin School in the Al-Daraj neighborhood.

With the bombing of the school, the number of schools targeted by the Israeli army in Gaza City in the last week has increased to six, according to an Anadolu tally.

Despite appeals Thursday from mediators, including Egypt, the US, and Qatar to stop hostilities, reach a cease-fire and a hostage exchange agreement, Israel persists with its deadly offensive against the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli onslaught against Gaza has killed nearly 39,800 victims since October, following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala