The Guardian of London has posted a detailed catalogue of Israel’s attacks on seven UN shelters during the 32-day war with Gaza.
At least 47 Gazans were killed and hundreds wounded in the shelling.
Witnesses, including displaced Gazans in the shelters, and the UN pointed to Israeli responsibility for the attacks. The Israeli military tried on at least one occasion to blame Hamas, but its main response was “We are carefully reviewing all of these incidents.”
The overview to The Guardian’s report:
Reports from the scenes and other evidence indicate that the source of the fire in each case was Israeli, although in at least one case the Israeli military initially suggested that errant Hamas rocket fire was responsible. In multiple cases, the Israeli army said it was returning fire that had come from the vicinity of the schools. UNRWA, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees, said it had informed the Israeli military of the locations of the schools repeatedly, in one case 33 times.
The repeated strikes on the schools drew increasingly shocked responses from the United Nations and governments around the world. The UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, called the last school strike, in Rafah on 3 August, a “moral outrage” and a “criminal act”. The White House said it was “extremely concerned that thousands of internally displaced Palestinians who have been called on by the Israeli military to evacuate their homes are not safe in UN-designated shelters in Gaza”.
“I can assure you unequivocally that the IDF does not target civilians,” the IDF spokesman Lt Col Peter Lerner said in an email to the Guardian. “Hamas chooses where these battles are conducted and, despite Israel’s best efforts to prevent civilian casualties, Hamas is ultimately responsible for the tragic loss of civilian life. Specifically in the case of UN facilities, it is important to note the repeated abuse of UN facilities by Hamas, namely with at least three cases of munitions storage within such facilities.
“All of these incidents are under review, as part of the thorough internal investigation the IDF is conducting.”
PHOTO: Children in a hospital in Beit Ahoun, Gaza, after an attack on a UN shelter, July 24 — Sean Swan/ITV