Yesterday, Israeli forces fired three shells at a United Nations school in Jabalya refugee camp, which it knew was being used as shelter for displaced civilian families. The attack killed at least 46 and wounded 55 others, but Israel said the killings were “according to procedures” and blamed Hamas for provoking the attack, claiming it was using the school secretly and fired mortars from the courtyard. Israel was so outraged in fact that they are considering an official complaint to the UN over the incident.
But the Israeli government’s already flagging credibility took another hit today, when UN investigators shot more holes in the official Israeli story than the military did in the school. They insist there is not a shred of evidence to support the Israeli claim that there were militants in the school.
Moreover, Israeli officials have the names of two militants it insists fired the mortars and were killed in the Israeli attack. Yet Israeli forces never came to the scene after the attack, and would have no access to the records of Gaza’s hospitals regarding the dead, making such an identification seemingly impossible.
Rather, one resident suggested that a citrus grove in the same refugee camp was a more likely source of the fire. With over 800 families now taking refuge in two other UN schools after being ordered from their homes, one would hope Israel will be more cautious than they have been in the past.