JOHANNESBURG

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa late Thursday condemned an Israeli airstrike on a school run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in the Gaza Strip that killed dozens of displaced people who were sheltering there.

“We remain deeply concerned about the genocide that continues to take place in Gaza and Palestine,’’ Ramaphosa said in a media briefing that was announcing his ruling African National Congress (ANC) party’s decision to form a government of national unity after failing to obtain a majority in May 29 elections.

Ramaphosa said his government condemns the most recent bombing of the UNRWA school in the Nuseirat refugee camp and facilities housing displaced people in Gaza.

The Israeli strike killed 35 people and left "many more injured" when it struck the facility without any prior warning to the thousands of people who were sheltering there.

“We call on the international community to act now against the genocide that is being perpetrated against the Palestinian people,’’ Ramaphosa said adding that “atrocities against civilians continue to cause great hardship and loss of life.”

The Israeli military admitted hitting the UNRWA school, claiming that Hamas fighters were hiding inside.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza since an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last Oct. 7, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire

Some 36,600 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and over 83,000 others injured, according to local health authorities

Eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

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