UN: Israel responsible for Gaza shelter attacks
On seven occasions six UNRWA facilities were hit causing civilian deaths, report says
AUnited Nations inquiry yesterday blamed the Israeli military for seven attacks on UN schools in Gaza that were used as shelters during the 2014 war.
“I deplore the fact that at least 44 Palestinians were killed as a result of Israeli actions and at least 227 injured at United Nations premises being used as emergency shelters,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a letter to the Security Council.
“It is a matter of the utmost gravity that those who looked to them for protection and who sought and were granted shelter there had their hopes and trust denied,” Ban added.
The UN chief vowed to “spare no effort to ensure that such incidents will never be repeated.”
The board of inquiry investigated the attacks on the schools run by the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA from July 8 to August 26 last year, but it also shed light on the discovery of weaponry at three schools.
The schools were vacant at the time but Ban noted that “the fact that they were used by those involved in the fighting to store their weaponry and, in two cases, probably to fire from, is unacceptable.”
Israel has repeatedly maintained that Hamas was using civilians as human shields and UN premises as storage sites for weapons during the 50-day war. In response to the report, Israel’s foreign ministry said criminal investigations have been launched. “Israel makes every effort to avoid harm to sensitive sites, in the face of terrorist groups who are committed not only to targeting Israeli civilians but also to using Palestinian civilians and UN facilities as shields for their terrorist activities,” said foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon.