Israeli air strike on Gaza hits third UN school

in 10 days
Seven people killed and dozens wounded in new missile attack on UN-run
school in Rafah, according to witnesses
Object1
Jason Burke in Rafah-Sunday 3 August !"#
At least seven people have $een killed and dozens more wounded after a pro%ectile
struck a street outside a school in the city of Rafah, in the south of &aza'
(he school was sheltering more than 3,!!! people displaced $y fighting in the area' )t
has $een the scene of heavy $om$ardment $y the )sraeli military and fierce clashes
following the suspected capture $y *amas fighters of an )sraeli soldier, later declared
killed in action'
At the time of the strike + a$out "!',!am + dozens of children and adults were
clustered around its gates $uying $iscuits and sweets from stalls set up $y locals'
(he missile struck the ground eight to "! metres from the open gates' -itnesses at
the scene less than an hour after the e.plosion claimed it had $een fired from one of
the many unmanned )sraeli drones in the air a$ove Rafah'
United Nations officials in &aza descri$ed a /shelling incident/ or an air strike'
)t was impossi$le to determine the e.act provenance of the pro%ectile, $ut it was the
third time in "! days that a UN school had $een hit' 0arlier this week, )sraeli tank
shells lstruck a school in the northern town of 1a$aliya, killing "2 in an attack
denounced $y the UN secretary general, 3an 4i-moon, as /reprehensi$le/'
)n all, seven UN schools have $een attacked during the conflict'
)sraeli spokesmen have previously $lamed poorly aimed or malfunctioning *amas
mortar fire or rockets for several such incidents'
0lsewhere in Rafah, more than 3! people were killed in $om$ing and shelling on
Sunday morning, $ringing the total num$er of dead in the city in the past #5 hours to
more than "!!'
(he school + the Rafah 6reparatory A 3oys school + is one of more than 7! shelters
run $y the UN in &aza to provide a safe haven to 6alestinians fleeing the fighting' Air
strikes and shelling continued across much of &aza on Saturday despite the )sraeli
military operation /changing gear/, according to spokesmen'
Amid scenes of chaos, wounded from the school were taken to the two small hospital
facilities still open in Rafah' -ith no mortuary facilities availa$le, families collected the
$odies of the dead almost immediately' )n the corridors of the 4uwaiti hospital, stunned
casualties lay on $eds or slumped in chairs'
8ohammed A$u Adwan, ",, descri$ed how he and his friend, 8oaz A$u Rus had
$een sitting outside the school gates'
/)t was %ust like normal' Some of the kids were $uying sweets and that sort of thing'
Suddenly there was an e.plosion' ) was hit $y shrapnel and they $rought me here,/ he
said' *is friend, also ",, was killed'
9atih 9ird$ari, 3!, was outside the school when the e.plosion occurred'
/) was %ust talking to my friend and leaning against his tuk-tuk :motorised rickshaw;'
(here was a $ig $ang' ) felt nothing at first and then ) fell down' ) looked around and
saw people lying on the ground' ) was wounded in the calf,/ 9ird$ari, a farmer who had
fled his lands close to the $order crossing with 0gypt, said'
An hour after the $last, people sheltering in the school washed $lood from around the
gates and pavement outside'
(he dead included a "3-year-old and a "!-year old who live near to the school and
had $een selling $iscuits'
(he $ody of <usef )skaafi, "!, was carried into his home $y midday, $orne $y relatives
and wrapped in a white shroud' /*e was %ust a normal kid, from a good family' *e had
no idea what was going on,/ a neigh$our said'
Adnan A$u *asna, spokesman for the UN Relief and -orks Agency in &aza, said= /)t
is $elieved that there was an air strike that hit outside the gate of an UNR-A school, a
designated shelter for at least 3,!!! displaced residents'/
/(here were multiple dead and in%uries inside and outside the school, including an
UNR-A staffer'/
Regional efforts to $roker a diplomatic end to the fighting $etween )sraeland *amas
have so far proved elusive, with the conflict now in its >th day with more than ",>!!
people killed' )sraeli officials say nearly half of these casualties are com$atants'
*owever, the UN says only a third are fighters, while local N&?s say four-fifths are
civilians'
A 6alestinian delegation was to hold truce talks on Sunday in @airo with senior US and
0gyptian officials, $ut )srael has said it sees no point in sending its negotiators to the
meeting, citing what it says are *amas $reaches of previous agreed truces'
)slamic 1ihad was also e.pected to %oin the talks, along with the USAs 8iddle 0ast
envoy, 9rank Bowenstein'
)sraeli media reported that ca$inet ministers have decided not to seek a further
negotiated ceasefire agreement with *amas and were considering ending the military
operation unilaterally'
)sraelAs army announced on Sunday it had $egun withdrawing some troops from &aza'
/-e are removing some CforcesD,/ Bieut @ol 6eter Berner told A96 that troops were
/e.tremely close/ to completing a mission to destroy a network of attack tunnels'
/-e are redeploying within the &aza Strip, taking out other positions, and relieving
other forces from within, so it wonAt $e the same type of ground operation,/ he said'
/3ut indeed we will continue to operate E CandD have a rapid reaction force on the
ground that can engage *amas if reFuired'/
(he )srael Gefence 9orces C)G9D has claimed that *amas and other groups launch
rockets from close to schools'
/<esterday 6alestinian terrorists fired "" mortars from the vicinity of an UNR-A school
in Heitoun, &aza,/ the )G9 said on (witter a$out four hours after the strike on the
school in Rafah'
(he UN has said it has found caches of rockets at schools in &aza and has criticised
those who had put them there for placing civilians at risk'
)sraelAs assault on Rafah $egan early on 9riday in the opening hours of a >-hour
humanitarian truce, which was Fuickly shattered when militants am$ushed a group of
soldiers, killing two'
A third was reported missing, $elieved snatched in a development that drew sharp
condemnation from US and UN officials' 3ut early on Sunday, the )sraeli army formally
announced the death the soldier, 3-year-old *adar &oldin, saying he had $een /killed
in $attle in the &aza Strip on 9riday/'
Army radio said no $ody had $een recovered, rendering the decision to announce his
death /very delicate/' (here was no word on the wherea$outs of his remains'
*amasAs 0zzedine al-Iassam 3rigades acknowledged its militants had staged an
am$ush in which two other )sraeli soldiers were killed, $ut denied holding &oldin'
*is death raised to 2# the total num$er of soldiers killed since the start of the
operation, its heaviest toll since the Be$anon war of !!2' (hree civilians have $een
killed in )srael' *amas have fired a$out 3,!!! rockets across the $order, )sraeli
defence officials say'
An )sraeli army spokeswoman said that so far on Sunday at least "3 rockets were fired
from &aza at )srael' ?ne was intercepted $y )sraelAs anti-missile system and the rest
landed in open areas'
)srael $egan its air and naval offensive against &aza on 5 1uly following a surge of
cross-$order rocket salvoes $y *amas and other guerrillas, later escalating the
operation into ground incursions'
3en%amin Netanyahu, the )sraeli prime minister, vowed to press on with /?peration
6rotective 0dge/, promising that *amas would pay /an insuffera$le price/ for
continued cross-$order rocket fire'
/-e will take as much time as necessary, and will e.ert as much force as needed,/ he
said late on Saturday, saying troops would complete their mission to destroy the
tunnels after which the ne.t security o$%ectives would $e decided'
NetanyahuAs remarks came after the army gave a first indication it was ending
operations in parts of &aza, informing residents of 3eit Bahiya and Al-Atatra in the
north that it was safe to return home'
-itnesses in the north confirmed seeing troops leaving the area as others were seen
pulling out of villages east of 4han <unis in the south as commentators suggested it
was the start of a unilateral withdrawal'
Bocal people reported limited shelling overnight in the northern areas though most
were reluctant to return to their homes following the $reakdown of previous ceasefires'
(he )G9 has dropped leaflets in parts of &aza telling local residents to /tell your hidden
leaders the $attle is over/ and that /all mem$ers and leaders of *amas and other
terrorist movements are unsafe/'
(he UN has said #2!,!!! people had $een displaced $y the fighting + nearly a Fuarter
of &azaAs population' Goctors say they are running short of medicine and that, after
nearly four weeks of conflict, the health system is $reaking down'
/-e have three or four patients to a room, with open wounds, in August,/ said one
surgeon at the al-Shifa hospital in &aza @ity'
Posted by Thavam