Deadly Israeli shelling hits Gaza UN school

[bemildred]

Israeli shelling on a UN school being used as a shelter in the Gaza Strip has killed 23 people and injured scores of others, medics said.

Wednesday’s shelling hit the school in Jabalia refugee camp, emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said, on the 23rd day of Israel's military campaign against the Palestinian coastal enclave.

An AFP news agency correspondent said that at least one shell had hit the school - the outer wall of the complex was damaged by shellfire - and in a bombed-out classroom people were picking body parts off a blood-soaked floor.

An official for the UN's Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), who requested anonymity, confirmed the strike, saying it hit a bathroom and two classrooms inside the girls' school.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/07/gaza-un-school-hit-201473041918975321.html

Now seeing this story in several places.

[Israeli]

1. every morning the news just gets worse bemildred....

.....no words just

[bemildred]

3. No words.

[oberliner]

2. This is horrible

Incidentally, although this is a girls' school, all of the casualties identified thus far have been adult males. In fact, males represent about 90 percent of all the total casualties in Gaza to this point, which is odd considering females make up over half of the population.

[bemildred]

4. I dunno about the gender figures, but it's not being used as a school.

What I read in a couple other versions was it was sheltering a lot of people run off from other places. The numbers are changing too.

Here's another one:

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/world/2014/07/30/gaza-fighting-rages-on/13349387/

[oberliner]

5. Any statement from the IDF?

Are they going with "it was actually a Hamas rocket that hit the school" or "the school was being used by Hamas to launch rockets" ?

[bemildred]

6. They are looking into it.

There is another story about rockets in an empty school too:

http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report-un-says-more-rockets-found-at-one-of-its-gaza-schools-2006520

That's from Tuesday, it may have already been chewed over here.

[oberliner]

23. Here's the answer apparently

The Israeli military said mortar shells had been fired from near the school, and that its soldiers fired back.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/07/30/gaza-fighting-rages-on/13349387/?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzRss&utm_campaign=usatoday-newstopstories

[840high]

26. Thanks.

[kayecy]

29. You think for Israel to fire blindly back is acceptable?

You think that for Israel to fire blindly back without checking whether there are civilians present is acceptable?

[azurnoir]

30. welcome back its been long time

[kayecy]

32. Thanks.......Been rather busy but this Gaza killing has drawn me back...n/t

[oberliner]

31. No

Totally unacceptable.

Not surprising, though.

[bemildred]

7. Arutz Sheva says the IDF is starting a new "thrust" into North & central Gaza.

With heavy air support. I don't think I'm going to link it, there is some crazy stuff on that site now.

[oberliner]

8. Probably no Israeli source less reliable than that one

Best left ignored.

[bemildred]

9. They can be useful for news, but you have to "interpret" things a lot.

And yeah, I don't post them much.

[Israeli]

13. do try and keep up oberliner ....

ref: " all of the casualties identified thus far have been adult males. In fact, males represent about 90 percent of all the total casualties in Gaza to this point, which is odd considering females make up over half of the population. "

this has already been posted :

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/palestinianauthority/10984259/Revealed-the-Palestinian-children-killed-by-Israeli-forces.html

[oberliner]

22. That confirms what I wrote

There was also a release from the Palestinian Minister of Health in Gaza who has given the exact numbers (as of early yesterday).

1230martyrs (287 children, 130women, 57elderly) and more than 7000 wounded.

Among the children, most are male as well, as your link indicates.

[bemildred]

10. Fresh Israeli strikes kill two children ahead of truce talks

Fresh Israeli bombardments rocked Gaza in the early hours of Wednesday, killing two children, as Palestinian factions were to head to Cairo to discuss a temporary humanitarian ceasefire.

As the conflict between Israel and Hamas entered its 23rd day, international efforts to bring an end to the bloodshed that has killed more than 1,200 people continued apace, and concern grew over the high civilian death toll, especially among children.

Since the war began on July 8, when Israel launched a campaign to stop rocket fire from Gaza and destroy attack tunnels, a series of concerted international efforts to bring a truce have fallen flat.

And the fighting continued Wednesday morning, when the first Israeli bombardments of the day killed two girls and a middle-aged man.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/07/30/fresh-israeli-strikes-kill-two-children-ahead-truce-talks.html

[bemildred]

11. Israelis deeply embrace the war

JERUSALEM – The airwaves are filled with images of death and destruction in the Gaza Strip. President Obama is pressing for an immediate cease-fire. More than 50 Israeli soldiers have been killed.

But at home, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is riding a massive wave of popularity.

Domestic support for the Israeli leader’s prosecution of the war in Gaza has only grown over the past three weeks, as the Israeli public and political class rally behind an aggressive, definitive campaign against Hamas and its rockets and tunnels. The deep support among Israelis for the military’s Gaza offensive and Netanyahu’s leadership is almost unprecedented, analysts said.

‘Never been this hard-line’

A poll this week for Israel’s Channel 10 news, conducted by the Sarid Institute, found that 87 percent of Jewish Israelis support continuing the Gaza operation. A survey by the Israel Democracy Institute found that 95 percent of Israeli Jews think the operation in Gaza is just, and four of five oppose a unilateral withdrawal. Just 4 percent said the Israeli military has used excessive force.

http://www.startribune.com/world/269151031.html

[bemildred]

12. Hamas calls on Hezbollah to help fight Israel

BEIRUT: Hamas has urged Hezbollah to join the fight against Israel after the conflict between the Islamic Resistance Movement and the Jewish state entered its third week.

“We hope the Lebanese front will open and together we will fight against this formation [Israel],” deputy head of Hamas’ political bureau Mousa Abu Marzouk told Russian news agency RIA Novosti.

“There’s no arguing that Lebanese resistance could mean a lot,” Abu Marzouk stressed.

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah has vowed that his party will stand by the resistance in Gaza.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/Jul-30/265438-hamas-calls-on-hezbollah-to-help-fight-israel.ashx

[bemildred]

14. Deadly Israeli shelling hits Gaza UN school

Israeli shells have struck a UN school in the Gaza Strip, killing at least 19 people and wounding scores more, after Israeli ground troops made a significant push into the territory.

Wednesday’s shelling of the Jabaliya refugee camp was the second time in a week that a UN school sheltering hundreds of homeless Palestinians had been hit, with the latest violence pushing the Gaza death toll over 1,280.

Christopher Gunness, the UNRWA's spokesman, said the attack was a "source of universal shame" and blamed Israeli forces.

"We have visited the site and gathered evidence. We have analysed fragments, examined craters and other damage. Our initial assessment is that it was Israeli artillery that hit our school, in which 3,300 people had sought refuge.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/07/gaza-un-school-hit-201473041918975321.html

[bemildred]

15. Gaza Conflict: Israel warned of school location 17 times before deadly attack, says UN

UN agency head denounces Israel for attacking school after being told of its location '17 times'

The head of UN agency for Palestinian refugees issued a furious denunciation of an Israel strike on one of its schools in Gaza which killed 16 people on Wednesday.

"I condemn in the strongest possible terms this serious violation of international law by Israeli forces," said UNRWA commissioner General Pierre Krahenbuhl, saying the school's location had been communicated to the Israeli army 17 times.

"This is the sixth time that one of our schools has been struck," he said, indicating some 3,300 people had been sheltering in the school in Jabaliya refugee camp at the moment it was struck.

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/storystream/gaza-conflict-israel-warned-school-location-17-times-deadly-attack-says-un

[Jefferson23]

19. 17 times Israel was warned. :(

[oberliner]

24. Israel is saying they were responding to mortar shells fired from near the school

For what that is worth.

[Jefferson23]

25. Yes, I read that...thank you. n/t

[bemildred]

16. Israel declares four-hour ceasefire in Gaza after tank shells slam into crowded UN school

Israeli tank shells slammed into a crowded UN school sheltering Gazans displaced by fighting on Wednesday, killing 15 and wounding 90 after tearing through the walls of two classrooms, a spokesman for a UN aid agency and a health official said.

The Israeli military said mortar shells had been fired from near the school, and that soldiers fired back.

Later Wednesday, the Israeli military declared a four-hour humanitarian cease-fire in parts of Gaza beginning at 3:00 p.m. Hamas had no immediate comment.

Israeli airstrikes and shelling also killed 40 Palestinians elsewhere in the coastal territory on Wednesday, including multiple members of two families struck in their homes, health officials said.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/07/30/israel-declares-four-hour-ceasefire-in-gaza-after-tank-shells-slam-into-crowded-un-school/

[bemildred]

17. Hamas spokesperson: Israel ceasefire 'worthless'

Hamas spokesman Sami Aby Zuhri has told Al-Jazeera an announced ceasefire is "worthless" because it does not include the "hot" areas in Gaza and will not allow the Palestinians to go in to theses areas and reach the dead.

http://www.itv.com/news/update/2014-07-30/hamas-spokesperson-israel-ceasefire-worthless/

[bemildred]

18. Israel agrees four-hour Gaza ceasefire as UN rages over school strike

Israel agreed July 30 to observe a four-hour lull in Gaza several hours after a deadly strike on a school killed 16, drawing a furious response from a U.N. refugee agency. In a statement, the army said it had agreed to a humanitarian pause which was to begin at 12:00 GMT. But it said the lull would not apply in areas where the army was "currently operating" and warned those who had fled their homes not to return.

The announcement came as the Israeli security cabinet was meeting in Tel Aviv to discuss an Egyptian proposal for a more permanent ceasefire, army radio reported. The temporary truce deal comes just hours after two Israel shells slammed into a U.N. school in the northern Gaza Strip where more than 3,000 people had sought shelter, killing at least 16 of them.

It was the second time in a week that a U.N. school had been hit, hiking the death toll in Gaza from 23 days of bloodshed to around 1,300 and drawing a furious denunciation from the head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.

"I condemn in the strongest possible terms this serious violation of international law by Israeli forces," said UNRWA Commissioner General Pierre Krahenbuhl, saying the school's location had been communicated to the Israeli army 17 times.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/israel-agrees-four-hour-gaza-ceasefire-as-un-rages-over-school-strike.aspx?pageID=238&nid=69772&NewsCatID=352

[bemildred]

20. IDF: Deadly fire on UN school a response to mortar attack

IDF officials said Wednesday that Israeli soldiers fired several tank shells at a UN school used as a shelter for refugees in response to mortar shells fired by Gazan operatives from there. At least 15 people were killed in the IDF shelling, and 90 were wounded, according to Ashraf al-Qudra, a Palestinian health official.

The UN school, in the Jabaliya refugee camp in Gaza City, was housing hundreds of Palestinians who had sought shelter from the intense fighting and Israeli tank fire, said Adnan Abu Hasna, a spokesman for the UN aid agency UNRWA, which has opened its schools to Palestinians displaced by the fighting.

Starting at around 4:30 a.m., several shells hit the school compound, a few minutes apart, said the school principal, Fayez Abu Dayeh. He said shells hit two classrooms and a bathroom.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-deadly-fire-on-un-school-a-response-to-mortar-attack/

[Jefferson23]

21. Israeli bombing of Shujaiyya market kills 17 despite ceasefire

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Despite a four-hour humanitarian ceasefire that began at 3:00 p.m., Israeli forces on Wednesday afternoon shelled a market in Shujaiyya as well as number of homes across the Gaza Strip, killing at least 33.

Gaza Ministry of Health spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said around 6 p.m. that an Israeli airstrike had hit Shujaiyya market, killing at least 17, including a journalist, and injuring 200.

A Ma'an reporter on the scene said that Israeli artillery had fired several shells at civilians in the market, adding that ambulances and civilian vehicles were still transporting the wounded and the killed to the al-Shifa Hospital.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza said that the dead including a journalist and two paramedics, as well as a member of the civil defense crews.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=716994

[bemildred]

27. Israeli troops, using sniffer dogs and robots, hunt for Gaza tunnels

GAZA STRIP, July 30 (Reuters) - Israeli Colonel Tomer was literally tipped off to the tunnel snaking under a Palestinian village when the tank-churned earth gave way under the weight of one of his behemoth bulldozers.

Twenty-four hours later, on Wednesday, his forces cleared a greenhouse that had provided cover and dug a 3 metre-deep (10 foot) crater exposing the concrete-reinforced passage wide enough for a man in battle gear to squeeze through.

It would take several days, the officer told Reuters at the scene - the exact location could not be reported under military rules - to map out the half-dozen suspected access shafts to the tunnel, one of which, he said, was concealed by a Palestinian home.

Then explosives would be dropped in and the network destroyed as part of a tunnel-hunt throughout the Gaza Strip's eastern frontier that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says will be completed, whether or not Israel reaches a ceasefire with the territory's dominant Hamas Islamists.

http://www.trust.org/item/20140730165337-pyxv5/

[Jefferson23]

28. White House condemns shelling of UN school; 3 IDF soldiers killed in Gaza

Security cabinet orders IDF to continue fierce attacks in Gaza, neutralize tunnels; 17 Palestinians killed, 200 wounded in Shujaiyeh shelling.

By Haaretz | Jul. 30, 2014 | 8:20 PM

Latest updates:

8:33 P.M. The IDF released the names of two of three soldiers killed in Gaza earlier today: Sgt. 1st Class Matan Gotlib, 21, of Rishon Letzion and Sgt. 1st Class Omer Hay, 21, Savyon. Their families were notified. (Gili Choen)

8:21 P.M. White House: U.S. condemns Israel's shelling of UN school in Gaza Strip. (Chemi Shalev)

8:20 P.M. Rocket explodes in the Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council. (Shirly Seidler)

7:52 P.M. Saeb Erekat travels to Qatar by invitation of the Qatari foreign minister, and is expected to meet with Khaled Mashal to discuss a possible route to a cease-fire. A senior Palestinian official tells Haaretz: "There are negotiations on several levels but no breakthrough yet." (Jack Khoury)

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.607945