This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/31/world/middleeast/israel-gaza.html
The article has changed 12 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| Israeli Shells Said to Hit School in Gaza, Killing 15 | Israeli Shells Said to Hit School in Gaza, Killing 15 |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| GAZA CITY — Israeli artillery fire hit a United Nations-run school serving as a shelter in northern Gaza early Wednesday, killing 15 Palestinians taking refuge there, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. | GAZA CITY — Israeli artillery fire hit a United Nations-run school serving as a shelter in northern Gaza early Wednesday, killing 15 Palestinians taking refuge there, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. |
| Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a spokesman for the Israeli military, said Wednesday morning he was looking into what struck the school. | Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a spokesman for the Israeli military, said Wednesday morning he was looking into what struck the school. |
| Witnesses said at least two shells landed at Abu Hussein school, located in the middle of the Jabaliya refugee camp, around 4:30 a.m., hitting the stairway and a classroom. | Witnesses said at least two shells landed at Abu Hussein school, located in the middle of the Jabaliya refugee camp, around 4:30 a.m., hitting the stairway and a classroom. |
| Jabaliya, the most densely populated area in the Gaza Strip, has come under artillery fire since Tuesday afternoon. The shelling has killed at least 50 people there in the past 24 hours, according to the ministry. | Jabaliya, the most densely populated area in the Gaza Strip, has come under artillery fire since Tuesday afternoon. The shelling has killed at least 50 people there in the past 24 hours, according to the ministry. |
| The streets of Jabaliya, which was already overpopulated, are packed with people who fled their homes in the eastern and northern Gaza Strip after the beginning of the Israeli ground invasion. | |
| Robert Turner, the Gaza-based director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which owns the school and was operating the shelter, said “at least three explosive projectiles” hit before dawn on Wednesday, when about 3,300 people were at the site. | Robert Turner, the Gaza-based director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which owns the school and was operating the shelter, said “at least three explosive projectiles” hit before dawn on Wednesday, when about 3,300 people were at the site. |
| Mr. Turner said the agency had provided the GPS coordinates of the Jabaliya school to the Israel Defense Forces 17 times, starting July 16 and most recently Tuesday at 8:48 p.m., to ensure it would be protected. | Mr. Turner said the agency had provided the GPS coordinates of the Jabaliya school to the Israel Defense Forces 17 times, starting July 16 and most recently Tuesday at 8:48 p.m., to ensure it would be protected. |
| “These people were in this school because they’d been told by the I.D.F. to leave where they came from,” said Mr. Turner, whose agency is using 85 schools to house more than 200,000 Palestinians, most of whom had received evacuation notices. “They were told to move to these areas.” | “These people were in this school because they’d been told by the I.D.F. to leave where they came from,” said Mr. Turner, whose agency is using 85 schools to house more than 200,000 Palestinians, most of whom had received evacuation notices. “They were told to move to these areas.” |
| Among those killed was a United Nations security guard. “We’ve been on site, we’re gathered evidence, we’ve looked at the trajectory and we’re confident it was Israeli artillery fire,” Mr. Turner said. | Among those killed was a United Nations security guard. “We’ve been on site, we’re gathered evidence, we’ve looked at the trajectory and we’re confident it was Israeli artillery fire,” Mr. Turner said. |
| He added that as many as seven school-shelters may have been struck since Israel’s ground invasion began on July 17, though he was still checking reports that one in the Shati refugee camp and another in the Gaza City neighborhood of Mamouniya were hit overnight. | |
| “What we’ve seen in our shelters is indicative of what we’ve seen more generally,” Mr. Turner said. “When they started naval bombardment, artillery and tank fire, that’s just not as accurate as airstrikes. “They can’t see what they’re shooting at, so we’ve seen more destruction, more damage, more death.” | “What we’ve seen in our shelters is indicative of what we’ve seen more generally,” Mr. Turner said. “When they started naval bombardment, artillery and tank fire, that’s just not as accurate as airstrikes. “They can’t see what they’re shooting at, so we’ve seen more destruction, more damage, more death.” |
| The United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which in calm times provides education, health care and other services to about 70 percent of Gaza’s 1.7 million residents who are classified as refugees, has found rockets in three of its empty schools during the conflict, most recently on Tuesday. He said officials were not able to gain access to the school on Tuesday because of fighting nearby, but that unlike the other two cases, they did not plan to turn them over to Gaza-based security officials, which had prompted criticism. | The United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which in calm times provides education, health care and other services to about 70 percent of Gaza’s 1.7 million residents who are classified as refugees, has found rockets in three of its empty schools during the conflict, most recently on Tuesday. He said officials were not able to gain access to the school on Tuesday because of fighting nearby, but that unlike the other two cases, they did not plan to turn them over to Gaza-based security officials, which had prompted criticism. |
| “We’ll try to render them safe or cordon them off,” Mr. Turner said. | “We’ll try to render them safe or cordon them off,” Mr. Turner said. |
| Also at dawn Wednesday, an Israeli airplane fired a missile at the al-Astal family council in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, killing 10 people from the extended family, according to local reports and the Health Ministry. | Also at dawn Wednesday, an Israeli airplane fired a missile at the al-Astal family council in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, killing 10 people from the extended family, according to local reports and the Health Ministry. |
| The Israeli military denied responsibility for 16 deaths at a different United Nations school serving as a shelter, in Beit Hanoun, last week, saying that the only piece of Israeli ordnance to hit the school compound, an errant mortar, struck when the courtyard was empty. Witnesses have said they heard four or five booms as hundreds milled in the courtyard, preparing to evacuate the school. | The Israeli military denied responsibility for 16 deaths at a different United Nations school serving as a shelter, in Beit Hanoun, last week, saying that the only piece of Israeli ordnance to hit the school compound, an errant mortar, struck when the courtyard was empty. Witnesses have said they heard four or five booms as hundreds milled in the courtyard, preparing to evacuate the school. |
| Israel struck five mosques overnight that a military statement said “were utilized for terror purposes” such as storing weapons or providing access to tunnels or lookout points. The military said it had detonated three tunnel routes in the previous 24 hours. | Israel struck five mosques overnight that a military statement said “were utilized for terror purposes” such as storing weapons or providing access to tunnels or lookout points. The military said it had detonated three tunnel routes in the previous 24 hours. |
| Since the current operation began on July 8, the Israeli military statement said, Israel has hit 4,100 sites in Gaza, 1,566 of them connected to rocket-launching, 167 places that stored weapons and 746 “command-and-control centers.” The military said there had been 2,670 rockets and mortars fired toward Israel, and that about 280 of them had fallen short and landed within Gaza. | Since the current operation began on July 8, the Israeli military statement said, Israel has hit 4,100 sites in Gaza, 1,566 of them connected to rocket-launching, 167 places that stored weapons and 746 “command-and-control centers.” The military said there had been 2,670 rockets and mortars fired toward Israel, and that about 280 of them had fallen short and landed within Gaza. |
| The Palestinian Health Ministry put the Palestinian death toll from the past three weeks of fighting at 1,258, many of them civilians. On the Israeli side, 56 had died as of Tuesday evening, 53 of them soldiers. | The Palestinian Health Ministry put the Palestinian death toll from the past three weeks of fighting at 1,258, many of them civilians. On the Israeli side, 56 had died as of Tuesday evening, 53 of them soldiers. |