Palestine: UN School Hit By Israeli Shells; More than 40 Killed
At approximately 6:00 p.m. (GMT+2), Al Jazeera English reported that a UN school was hit when two tank shells exploded outside of the school. The school, located in Jabaliya, had been set up days ago as a shelter for Gaza residents who had lost or evacuated their homes. According to Al Jazeera English, more than 40 people were killed. On Al Jazeera English‘s television station (accessible globally via Livestation.com), it was reported that the IDF had been given GPS coordinates to all UN schools.
The Philistine reported quickly on the incident:
Medical officials say the death toll from an Israeli airstrike outside a United Nations school in the Gaza Strip has risen to 30.
The attack occurred about 10 yards (meters) outside the school in northern Gaza. It was the second deadly Israeli attack to strike a UN school in the past few hours.
Hospital director Bassam Abu Warda confirmed the 30 deaths from the second airstrike.
In both cases, the schools had been used as shelters for people displaced by Israel’s offensive
A top U.N. humanitarian official has condemned the violence and demanded an investigation.
Israel isn’t commenting.
Syria News Wire also reported quickly, stating:
40 people have now died after Israel’s bombing of a UN school in Gaza. 400 Palestinians were being given shelter there by the UN.
Twitter user dominiccampbell, from London, reacted strongly to the news as well:
Finnish Twitter user haloefekti expresses shock at the lack of outcry:
85 comments
“For the US and UK governments, Israel can do no wrong. Israel doesn’t have to stop withholding food, medicine, water, and energy, but Hamas must stop protesting by firing off rockets. In violation of international law, Israel can drive West Bank Palestinians off their lands and out of their villages and give the stolen properties to “settlers.” Israel can delay Palestinians in need of emergency medical care at checkpoints until their lives ebb away. Israeli snipers can get their jollies murdering Palestinian children.”
What a sick world we leave in. If this is the “Civilised World”, descent people should seriously consider an opt out.
@harvey
I totally agree with your analysis, as long as they fully rely on Israeli good will and hand-outs, it will be extremely difficult if not impossible to keep the peace. Every time Israel will need Palestinian concessions on the negotiation table and do not get what they want (…and I think you know what they ultimately want), they start the strangulation and the blockades and the random incursions and attacks. After 18 months anybody will crack. Unfortunately, we in the west are taking part in this carnage as our “free media” fail to highlight the plight of the Palestinian people and fairly represent the sequence of events leading to these desperate rocket attacks and our government are either staying on the fence like in Europe, or giving the green light for Israel to carry on their carnage like all consecutive US administrations. The poor “Common Man” has a totally distorted view of reality and the truth.
this brutal savage injustice did not just start now with the war on Gaza.
it has been ongoing for the past 60 years since the
illegal occupation of Palestine by Zionist Israel.
since their alien presence in the middle east, the
pages of history are filled with massacres and blood
shed against the Arabs , all under the feeble excuse of
self defense.
growing death toll of 600 people 30% of are children
Vs less than 10 Armed Zionist soldiers is a clear
message of who is the real threat.
us (Muslims,Arabs,Palestinians) are not the cause
of war ,instability or so called “terrorism”
we are simply trying to defend the land we lived in
for thousands of years, and to live like everyone else
in peace with dignity and hope for a better tomorrow.
this occupation is not about the Jews going back to their home land (http://www.nkusa.org/index.cfm)
this occupation is about the greed of the Zionists and
their allies in the USA government.
i wish peace and justice for all those
living under the sun.
The humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip is a farce. Hamas does not seem to have a problem getting rockets into Gaza. Perhaps if the worlds’cry-babies can only convince Hamas to stop bringing in rockets and to stop firing them and to concentrate on bringing in and distributing food then this supposed humanitarian crisis would be averted. Start pointing your fingers at Egypt, for they are the real culprits. Who controls Egypt’s border with Gaza where all these rockets are being smuggled in?
Which country in the world would tolerate a constant barrage of rockets to be fired at them and no response is to be expected?
Have the Palestinians rewritten their constitution that would strip the section calling for the destruction of Israel? This was part of the Oslo Accords, which, by the way is 15 years old now. I can loan them some crayons and paper if they would like to begin the writing today.
@Mark
The point that your argument is missing is what Israel did to start the rocket during the truce. This type of propanganda should be totally refused and challenged as the reasons behind the conflit are simply the Israely expansionist aspirations and colonial ambitions.
For the record, Hamas hit an Israeli school last week. Let’s not make this completely one-sided. Israel doesn’t publish its targets as a matter of national security.
The only difference here is in the casualty rates. Israelis in the South are currently forbidden from gathering in large groups in order to protect everyone as much possible and minimize all injuries and death. No one is attending school or working in large, public institutions. Even the grocery stores are closed. The school Hamas hit was empty for this reason.
There is absolutely no question that a school is a condemnable target in any war and hitting anywhere near it is to be avoided at all costs.
~ Maya Norton
(GVO, Israel)
Israel vs. Palestine is so lopsided. Hamas’ rafted weapons are totally not a match for such hi-tech weapons owned by Israelis army. Not to mention, US has always been Israel’s biggest supporter.
And Iran supports Hamas and Hezbollah…
Let me understand this correctly:
“For the US and UK governments, Israel can do no wrong. Israel doesn’t have to stop withholding food, medicine, water, and energy, but Hamas must stop protesting by firing off rockets. In violation of international law, Israel can drive West Bank Palestinians off their lands and out of their villages and give the stolen properties to “settlers.” Israel can delay Palestinians in need of emergency medical care at checkpoints until their lives ebb away. Israeli snipers can get their jollies murdering Palestinian children.”