UNWRA: There Were Unarmed Civilians In The School Strafed By Israeli Army (Hebrew)

[wellst0nev0ter]

Original Hebrew:

חקירה פנימית של אונר"א העלתה בביטחון כמעט ודאי שלא היו חמושים בבית הספר של סוכנות הסיוע של האו"ם (אונר"א ) במחנה הפליטים ג'בליה, שהופצץ אתמול (שלישי ) על ידי צה"ל. "חקירה פנימית של הארגון העלתה כי בביטחון של 99% לא היו חמושים בבית הספר", כך נמסר מדובר הארגון.

דובר אונר"א, כריס גאנס, טוען שלסרטים שהפיץ אתמול צה"ל מ-2007, בהם נראה ירי רקטות מתוך בית הספר, אין קשר למה שאירע במקום אתמול. לדבריו, האירוע ב-2007 היה אירוע נקודתי בזמן שהתלמידים וצוות אונר"א פונו מהמקום, בשעה שהחמושים ירו במסגרת חילופי אש עם צה"ל. הוא ציין כי בתקרית לפני כשנתיים לאנשי אונר"א לא היתה שום אפשרות למנוע את ירי החמושים.

My own Babelfishian translation:

An internal inquiry lead by UNRWA has found that it is unquestionable that there were no militants inside the school being run by UNRWA (a UN agency) in the refugee camp of Jabalya that was strafed yesterday by the Israeli army. "An internal inquiry has concluded that it is 99% certain that there were no militants in the school" the orginization said.

The spokeperson for UNRWA spoke to the incident in 2007 of which the Israeli Army is circulating videos that seem to show rockets being fired from the school, the spokeperson said there is no connection between what took place then and yesterday. In his words, the event from 2007 is when the students and staff of the UNRWA were forced to evacuate the school when confronted by armed militants they were ill equipped to deal with, who within the hour exchanged fire with the Israeli Army.

http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/spages/1053489.html

[bunnies]

1. Hitting that school was inexcusable.

Period.

[Marrah_G]

2. It's amazing what people will excuse

[Scurrilous]

3. U.N. agency demands Israel support claims about militants at school

<snip>

"A U.N. agency is demanding Israel back up its claims that Hamas was firing on Israeli forces from a U.N. school compound in northern Gaza, forcing Israeli artillery to shell the area and kill more than 40 Palestinian civilians.

"We have nothing to hide," U.N. Relief and Works Agency spokesman Chris Gunness said. "Bring it on. We want to see the evidence, we want to clear any suspicion."

Gunness, whose agency runs several schools in Gaza, spoke about Tuesday's incident in Jabalya in a joint CNN interview with Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor, which at times became quite heated.

Palmor told CNN's Finnouala Sweeney that Israel "know(s) for a fact that a Hamas squad was firing mortar shells from the immediate vicinity of the school, from the school grounds."

"The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) responded to that fire, and the tragic result was what we all know."

Gunness objected to that point, and asked Palmor to "be clear."

"Yigal, I've got to nail you on this -- were they in an UNRWA compound or not? If they were, then you can say to people, 'Well they were there.' If they weren't, let's be clear about it, be honest, be open."

Palmor clarified that "the immediate vicinity" meant "right next to the wall." But, he added, "What wall exactly I'm not in a position to say now."

The Israeli military said Tuesday that Hamas militants were firing mortars from the U.N. school in Jabalya that was being used as a shelter by hundreds of civilians. It said a pair of prominent Hamas operatives -- Imad Abu Askhar and Hassan Abu Askhar -- were inside the school.

Those operatives, described as heads of Hamas mortar-firing operations, were killed in the strike, the Israel Defense Forces said.

Also on Tuesday, an artillery shell struck inside a second U.N. school in the same town, but the boys' prep school was empty at the time, UNRWA director John Ging said.

Both incidents in Jabalya came a day after an Israeli airstrike killed three men at a U.N. school in Gaza City. UNRWA maintains that all U.N. buildings in Gaza are clearly marked with U.N. flags, and said the agency had given Israeli authorities the satellite positions of all of its schools before the fighting started.

Gunness said based on UNRWA's investigation, the agency is "99.9 percent certain" there were no Palestinian militants in or on the grounds of the school that was sheltering civilians when it was shelled by Israeli forces.

Palmor said Israel cannot present the evidence supporting its side because "the army's still inside Gaza fighting." He would not commit to an impartial inquiry on the matter -- which UNRWA has called for -- because Israel could not be certain that it would be credible."

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