Israel
Gaza school hit: Was it an Israeli shell?
Worldwide condemnation after rocket lands on UN school last night. Hamas may have been behind the attack, says Israel
STAFF REPORTER
There has been uproar and worldwide condemnation over a rocket which landed on a school of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza, killing 15 children. The school has been used by hundreds of Gazans as a shelter during the Gaza conflict.
The shell crashed down in the middle of a courtyard in which people had set up tents.
The headlines blared out that “an Israeli” shell had created the carnage. But the Public Diplomacy Department of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs is conducting an investigation as to whether it had in fact been “an Israeli” shell – or a rocket fired by Hamas.
A media release sent out under the name of Public Diplomacy Deputy Director Galit Peleg on Thursday July 24, says the Israeli Defence Forces “is examining the possibility that the UNRWA school in Beit Hanoun was hit by a rocket fired by Hamas in the area. UNRWA spokesperson Chris Gunness said that in the course of the day Hamas shot rockets that landed inside Beit Hanoun”.
Peleg said that according to information received by Israel, many of the residents in the area could not heed the call – pamphlets distributed by Israel to leave the area – because Hamas had prevented them from doing so.
Peleg says that according to preliminary reports, fighting was conducted in this area and a Hamas anti-tank cell was operating in the area of the school. “For the past several days, and also last night (Wednesday night), the IDF dropped leaflets warning the residents of the area to leave.
“They also advised UNRWA and the Red Cross to evacuate the two UNRWA schools in the area. This was due to the fact that Hamas terrorist shooting was coming from this area.
“Today (Thursday), between 10:00 and 14:00, a humanitarian corridor was established to give an additional opportunity for residents to evacuate the area. Reports reaching Israel indicate that several dozen people took advantage of the opportunity to leave, but most of the residents stayed in the area.
“Hamas exploits UNRWA buildings in the Gaza Strip. In the last few days alone, stores of Hamas rockets, intended to be used against Israel, were discovered in two UNRWA schools. UNRWA officially admitted that rockets were found in the schools, and the UN Secretary-General (Ban Ki-moon) condemned this, stating that it turns the schools into military targets, thus endangering the people staying there.
“Hamas continues to commit war crimes when it conducts fighting from within a civilian environment, from hospitals, ambulances, schools and mosques, and when it targets Israeli civilians. In contrast, the IDF does everything in its power to avoid harming civilians and regrets every civilian casualty,” the statement said in conclusion..
Open Your Eyes
July 25, 2014 at 1:20 pm
‘When will humanity realize that religion is the most destructive force of everything on earth? The Jewish faith is one of the most ignorant, ostracizing and harsh doctrines of all time; categorically calling for the desolation of the non-believers.
Wake up man! Can you not see that you are all wrong? You all have beliefs that in some way share the same dates, the same celebrations, the same mythical nonsense – just remixed to suit each other, and clothed with a different name.
Explain how 10 000 years ago the Sumerians were worshiping the Sun on certain days that were then adopted and written into the Old Testament by the Levites? It is a damn fraud that you believe that you are right, and others are wrong. There will never be world peace, but we can all try to accept other people’s beliefs as a start.
How you support what Israel is doing is absolute madness. There are no tunnels under schools, hospitals, and other important infrastructure. It is an excuse for the systematic genocide of a group of people that do not subscribe to your faith.
How dare you think you are right. How dare Israel claim it is their land.
In 20 years time when the world is a waste-land, there will be no savior ready to whisk you away, and burn the others in hell.
If you think that, then humanity is as simple as a small otter in the ocean.
We are all created by the same universal force, we are all of the same dimension. The chaos is created by clashes of faith. It is the same argument to say mushrooms are better than carrots and I will bomb you for it.
If there is a Divine Being that is allowing for this destruction and suffering of humanity, then I want nothing to do with him.
Quite simply, none of us know. And that my friends is how it should be left. Until we are taken naturally. Not by a damned missile aimed at a school.
Pathetic creatures we call humanity.’