"I am appalled by the news of an attack on an UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) school in Northern Gaza where hundreds of people had taken refuge," Ban said in a statement published on the UN's website, adding that "circumstances are still unclear."
At least 15 people were killed and around 200 others wounded when Israeli forces targeted the Ashraf al-Qidra school, a spokesman for the Gaza Health Ministry told Reuters.
Ban highlighted the sheer volume of refugees looking for shelter. "More than 100,000 Gazans - that's five percent of the total population - have sought refuge in UNRWA facilities," he said.
An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) blog post published on Thursday accused Hamas of firing from Beit Hanoun, a city in the northeastern Gaza strip where the shelled UNRWA school is located.
"Hamas continued firing from Beit Hanoun. The IDF responded by targeting the source of the fire. Also today, several rockets launched from Gaza toward Israel fell short and hit Beit Hanoun," the IDF stated.
Comment: Propaganda insert, designed to encourage the thought that somehow, four unguided rockets managed to land in on the same spot, right at the same time. It's the same psychopathic tactic employed over and over - blame the victim.
However, Israel's army had obtained "precise coordinates," according to a UNRWA spokesman.
"Precise co-ordinates of the UNRWA shelter in Beit Hanoun had been formally given to the Israeli army," Chris Gunness tweeted.
"It's clear that civilians are paying an unimaginable price caught between both sides," Gunness told Reuters. "There are reports of Hamas rockets falling around Beit Hanoun at the same time. We were attempting to arrange a window for evacuation for the civilians with the Israeli army that never came. The consequences were deeply tragic."
Laila Al-Shinbari, a woman who was at the school when it was shelled, told the agency that families had gathered in the courtyard when the shells struck.
"All of us sat in one place when suddenly four shells landed on our heads...Bodies were on the ground, [there was] blood and screams. My son is dead and all my relatives are wounded including my other kids," she cried.
Medical centers in the same area have been treating the injured over the course of the day. "Such a massacre requires more than one hospital to deal with it," Ayman Hamdan, director of the Beit Hanoun Hospital said.
US Department of State spokeswoman Jen Psaki stated that the attack "underscores the need to end the violence and to achieve a sustainable ceasefire and enduring resolution of the crisis in Gaza as soon as possible."
"We again urge all parties to redouble their efforts to protect civilians," she said on Thursday.
A batch of rockets was also discovered at a nearby UNRWA school on Tuesday.
"Today, in the course of the regular inspection of its premises, UNRWA discovered rockets hidden in a vacant school in the Gaza Strip," the organization said in a statement on Tuesday.
The previous Wednesday, UNRWA found some 20 rockets during a standard inspection in a school that it was overseeing.
The fighting between Israel and Palestine has been ongoing for 17 days. The overall death toll from the conflict has climbed to over 750.
Reader Comments
The usual propaganda states that one side MUST be good, and therefore, the "other side" MUST be entirely evil.
Those of you who have read Jacques Ellul's "Propaganda" know that stereotypes and demonizing and dehumanizing are one of the ways to persuade others to "think" correctly.
Ask yourself- WHY are so many Palestinians dying and suffering? Only a few years back, during the last Intifada, a busload of Israeli children, teenagers at a disco, at a pizza parlor were also dying. ALL IN THE NAME OF IDEOLOGY, which means that the POLITICIANS do not want to compromise for PEACE!
Hamas rockets are being deflected, which is why you don't see hundreds of Israelis dying.
Gaza is also crowded, which means that the people have NO WHERE TO GO TO! My question: WHY DOES HAMAS WANT WAR, KNOWING THAT HUNDREDS OF CIVILIANS WILL DIE AS A RESULT? If you claim it is because they are "occupied", then keep in mind that Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005. The money that Hamas spent on rockets and tunnels COULD HAVE BEEN SPENT ON HELPING POOR PALESTINIANS!
As one commenter put it: "This is more really of the same old same old. Hamas first missiles into Israel for months on end to provoke an attack so that HAMAS can use images of Israeli atrocities as a PR stunt, dutifully pushed forward by many, often well meaning stooges on the Western media. It's an old trick, it works everytime and the anti-Jewish press (they call themselves anti-Zionist, meaning Jews have no right to a homeland, only Muslms do)."
Meanwhile, an article in the wire states:
"We're officially through the looking glass here with rockets and United Nations Relief and Works Agency schools in Gaza. For the second time in a week, the United Nations agency disclosed that rockets were discovered in one of their vacant schools. From the U.N.R.W.A. statement:
Today, in the course of the regular inspection of its premises, UNRWA discovered rockets hidden in a vacant school in the Gaza Strip. As soon as the rockets were discovered, UNRWA staff were withdrawn from the premises, and so we are unable to confirm the precise number of rockets.
This time, though, it was a little bit different. The rockets were being stored in a facility within close proximity of roughly 3,000 displaced Palestinians.
The school is situated between two other UNRWA schools that currently each accommodate 1,500 internally displaced persons."
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In order to make peace, Israel and the Palestinians must recognize each other. There can be no peace if either side believes the other does not exist. Originally, the British mandate called for two states, an Arab state and a Jewish state. Arabs at that time rejected it, resulting in war and invasion, and since 1949, the problem of what to do with the displaced Palestinians has never been addressed.
Gaza was given in a land-for-peace swap, and this has NOT resulted in peace! Sadly, there has been no cease fire that has held.
The only way to end this is for BOTH SIDES to make and keep a cease fire.
Peace talks can begin when Hamas accepts the fact that Israel exists, and the Israelis accept the fact that the Palestinians exist!
Pray for peace!