20 people have been killed after a shell hit the Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) girls’ school in Jabalia refugee camp, emergency services say.
A UN official confirmed the shelling, saying that the missile hit a bathroom and two classrooms in the school, AFP reported.
+15 killed by #Israel in #UN #School in #Gaza – Including @UN staff | http://t.co/VUhhDBPv2Z #GazaUnderAttack pic.twitter.com/nYlDTgfFpu
— JOIN US ░▒▓███ ➽ ♻ ▲ (@Join____Us) July 24, 2014
The outer wall of the complex was damaged by shellfire, and in a targeted classroom people were picking body parts off the blood-soaked floor, according to the agency’s correspondent in the area. More than one shell hit the school. The first in the courtyard and the second a section primarily used by female pupils, RT contributor Harry Fear reported from the scene. Currently, over five UN schools are caught in the fighting, he added. The shelling happened after 5:30am local time (02:30 GMT). Almost 15,000 Palestinians were forced to seek shelter in 83 UNRWA schools, according to the UN refugee agency.
WATCH: Hamas hides their weapons in civilian buildings: schools, mosques & hospitals. http://t.co/3jnTCWi4cV
— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) July 30, 2014
All in all, 43 people have been killed in Gaza overnight in shelling carried out by Israeli forces.
It’s not the first time that an UNRWA facility has been targeted in Gaza: on Tuesday, the UN refugee agency stated that it had found a cache of rockets at one of its schools in the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian men inspect the damage at a UN school at the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip after the area was hit by Israeli shelling on July 30, 2014 (AFP Photo / Mahmud Hams)
The agency condemned those responsible for the action.
“We condemn the group or groups who endangered civilians by placing these munitions in our school. This is yet another flagrant violation of the neutrality of our premises. We call on all the warring parties to respect the inviolability of UN property,” UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness said in a statement.
The shelling came as a Palestinian delegation was preparing for a trip to Cairo to discuss a temporary humanitarian ceasefire.
The conflict, so far just over three weeks old, has seen over 1,260 people killed, according to figures provided by Gaza authorities.
Palestinian mourners carry a body as they walk during a funeral procession past a UN school that was hit by Israeli shelling in the Jabalia refugee camp on July 30, 2014 (AFP Photo / Marco Longari)
A Palestinian child, wounded in an Israeli strike on a compound housing a UN school in Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, receives treatment at Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia early on July 30, 2014 (AFP Photo / Mohammed Abed)
