Israeli massacre at UN school exposed

Saturday, 10 January 2009

Israeli massacre at UN school exposed

Sat, 10 Jan 2009 10:07:20 GMT

The Israel massacre of civilians in a UN school has been confirmed as unprovoked, despite claims by officials in Tel Aviv.

The Israeli military has reportedly admitted that the shelling of a UN school, which killed dozens of Gazan civilians, was "unprovoked".

UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness said senior Israeli military officials have confessed that there was no gunfire emanating from the school when it came under fire from one of its tanks.

"In briefings senior officers conducted for foreign diplomats, they admitted the shelling to which IDF forces in Jabaliya were responding did not originate from the school," The Haaretz quoted Gunness as saying on Saturday.

Tel Aviv has attempted to justify its Jan 6 attack on the United Nations school as a response to "militant gunfire" and has released footage of the incident to substantiate its claims.

Gunness, however, asserted that the footage released by Israel dated back to 2007 and was not related to the current incident.

Israeli attacks on three UN-run schools has killed at least 45 civilians and injured over 150 others -- most of whom were seeking shelter inside the school to escape the arbitrary Israeli strikes.

The United Nations had reacted in shock to the incident and stepped up calls for an independent inquiry into the attack -- perhaps the deadliest since Israel's Operation Cast Lead on Gaza began on December 27.

"There must be a serious and independent investigation into the shocking loss of civilian life that took place near the UN school and that has characterized this conflict," said deputy Middle East director for Human Rights Watch, Joe Stork.

The Israeli offensive has so far killed 804 Palestinians and wounded at least 3,330 others. According to the UN, one-third of the dead or injured in Gaza are children.

A UN report released on Friday has also revealed that Israeli forces moved nearly 110 Palestinians into a house and 24 hours later shelled the building repeatedly, killing about 30 people.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, pointing to the mass killing of Gazan civilians, has demanded that echelons in Tel Aviv be tried for war crimes.

The Swiss Foreign Ministry has also called for an international investigation into Israel's violations of humanitarian law in the Gaza Strip.

The rising civilian death toll in Gaza starkly disputes Tel Aviv's promises that it would not target "children and women or prevent humanitarian aid."

An Israeli military official claimed that Tel Aviv could not always be concerned about the welfare of Palestinian civilians and that its soldiers are its top priority.

SBB/AA