Zimpapers Logo

TEL AVIV – At least 15 people have been reported killed and 200 injured in the Israeli shelling of a UN school in northern Gaza which was being used as a shelter from fierce clashes on the streets outside.

Al Jazeera’s correspondent Nicole Johnston, reporting from Gaza, said the school in Beit Hanoun came under fire on Thursday. She said sources had told Al Jazeera that up to 30 people had been killed in the bombardment.

The Gaza health ministry later said that 15 were confirmed dead, and 200 injured.

In an interview with Al Jazeera Chris Gunness, the spokesman for UNRWA, the UN’s humanitarian organisation in Gaza, said his organisation had been in contact with Israeli forces as fighting closed in on the shelter.

“We gave the Israelis the precise GPS co-ordinates of the Beit Hanoun shelter. We were trying to co-ordinate a window [for evacuation] and that was never granted.”
He said he could neither confirm nor deny that Hamas fighters were near the building, but said Israel and Hamas “must respect the inviolability of UN premises, and humanitarian law”.

He called the attack “tragic and appalling”.

Robert Turner, the director for UNRWA told Al Jazeera there was no warning from the Israelis before the shells landed.

“This is a designated emergency shelter,” he said. “The location was conveyed to the Israelis.

“This was an installation we were managing, that monitored [to ensure] that our neutrality was maintained.

Israel has attacked UN schools before, saying that they were safe havens for the armed Palestinians.

UN has criticised the Palestinian groups various times for using UN schools to hide fighters and weapons.

“We always call on all parties to ensure that civilians are not harmed.”

A witness who arrived at the Kamal Adwan hospital after the attack told Al Jazeera: “We were sitting in the school, because we were told it is safe.

“By God, there was not a single fighter, not a single shot was fired from the school. Why did they shoot at the school?  Why? Can someone explain that to me?  Why would they shell the school?”

Thursday’s strike is the fourth time a UN facility has been hit in the 17 days of Israeli bombardment of Gaza.

At least 730 Palestinians have been killed and more than 4,500 injured in Israeli assault.

Two Israeli civilians have been killed by fire from Gaza since the offensive began.

The total number of Israeli soldiers killed since the start of the military assault stands at 32. One more soldier has been listed as missing and is believed to be dead.

Navi Pillay, the UN human rights chief, said on Wednesday there was “a strong possibility” that Israel was committing war crimes in Gaza.

In a vote in Geneva later on the same day, the UN Human Rights Council decided to launch an independent inquiry in Israel’s offensive on Gaza to investigate possible violations. – Al Jazeera