ATHENS

The European Union’s foreign policy chief slammed a deadly Israeli attack Tuesday on a school sheltering civilians in the city of Khan Younis in Gaza

“For how long are innocent civilians going to bear the brunt of this conflict?” Josep Borrell said on X.

Condemning the attack as a violation of international law, he said “those responsible must be held accountable.”

“It is imperative to immediately reach a cease-fire to bring respite to hundreds of stranded civilians, free all the hostages, deliver the needed humanitarian aid,” he said.

Several people were killed in the Israeli strike on a school housing displaced people in the southern Gaza Strip, according to medics.

Dozens were also injured in the attack, which targeted a school in the town of Abasan, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said in a statement.

The humanitarian group also reported casualties in an Israeli bombardment in the Abu Humeid roundabout in Khan Younis.

Last week, the Israeli army issued evacuation orders for Palestinian residents in several areas of eastern Khan Younis.

Since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict, the Israeli army has hit several Palestinian displacement centers across the Gaza Strip, killing dozens.

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas.

More than 38,200 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 88,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Nine months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie 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 it to immediately halt its military 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.