BERLIN

Despite strong international condemnation, including from the EU, of Israel's brutal attack on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Gaza, which killed at least 100 people, Germany justified it on Monday, saying Tel Aviv has the "right to defend itself."

“Israel has the right to defend itself. The reality is that Hamas uses schools, hospitals, kindergartens as command centers and that the people in the Gaza Strip are also abused against their will as protective (human) shields,” government deputy spokesman Wolfgang Buechner told the press in Berlin, echoing Israel's claims after each such attack.

Buechner, however, provided no evidence to back up his allegations against Hamas, which are consistent with Israeli propaganda used to justify lethal attacks on civilians in Gaza.

“That is also a sad reality in this situation and I think you have to be very careful about sitting on one-sided reports that are distributed by Hamas and believing everything that is spread by this side,” he said.

Buechner's controversial remarks stand in stark contrast to statements made by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who strongly condemned the attack on Saturday that killed at least 100 Palestinians as an Israeli aircraft targeted Palestinians performing pre-dawn or Fajr prayers at the Al-Taba'een School in the Al-Daraj neighborhood.

"Horrified by images from a sheltering school in Gaza hit by an Israeli strike, w/ reportedly dozens of Palestinian victims," Borrell wrote on X.

He emphasized that there is no justification for such massacres, particularly those targeting educational institutions that are meant to serve as shelters for civilians.

He drew attention to the alarming number of casualties since the conflict began in early October, with reports indicating more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed.