In its first attempt at damage control over the international outcry caused when its military deliberately attacked a United Nations girls’ school full of displaced persons in a Gaza refugee camp, causing scores of civilian casualties, Israel has declared that its troops acted “according to procedures” in launching the salvo.

In fact, the Israeli government appears to be more angry at the UN after the incident than the UN was about the killings in the first place. Claiming the building was secretly being used by Hamas, and that Hamas was somehow attempting to cover up this fact, Israel says it may file a formal complaint against the United Nations over the use of the facility for “terror purposes.”

The Israeli Embassy in the United States also defending the killings, saying it was clear that the site was not being used as a school at the time. The United Nations does not appear to deny this fact, as they have repeatedly stated that the facility was housing roughly 350 civilians displaced from their homes during the Israeli invasion at the time of the attack. Indeed, they say they informed Israel of the schools coordinates precisely so it wouldn’t be attacked. But attacked it was.

Moreover, the UN insists it carefully screened all those civilians who sought entry into the school to ensure that none of them were Hamas members, and that there was not a single incident of a Hamas member entering it before the attack. Israel’s ability to discern friendly and hostile targets seems to be in considerable doubt as well, after they deliberately attacked a building full of their own soldiers last night, killing three and injuring 24.