The United Nations Relief
and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) says it had sent 17 communiqués
that included the coordinates of the Abu Hussein UN-run school in the Jabalia
refugee camp to the Israelis to avoid bombing it. The last of these warnings
was communicated a few hours before the massacre, according to UNRWA. The
deadly Israeli air strike on the school prompted the UN agency to break its
silence and challenge the Israeli account of what had happened.
Gaza – This the
third time that UNRWA schools have been bombed during this war. The first
attack did not lead to casualties, as the Israeli occupation army had sent
warnings to the Maghazi School in the central Gaza Strip before shelling it.
“The strikes were sudden and random. People did not realize what was happening and they could not escape.” - Mohammed Awad, journalist The second attack turned into a massacre in Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip, killing around 15 refugees. At the time, UNRWA was equivocal about the cause of the attack, and relied on the Israeli account that claimed there had been military activity there. But Wednesday’s massacre took place in a refugee camp that does not have enough room for even a single bullet to be fired. The shelling claimed the lives of 17 people and injured dozens, many critically.
When the worshippers had
finished their prayers at dawn in the mosques of the northern part of the
Jabalia refugee camp, and made their way to the shelters at the elementary Abu
Hussein School, they did not know they were about to become the victims of a
horrific massacre.
In the beginning, the shells
were not directed toward the school, but were random and hit houses in the
surrounding area. Suddenly, the Israeli artillery decided to target the school
directly, destroying the outer gate, two classrooms at the front and center of
the school and adjacent toilets, in addition to three homes near the school. It
was a bloodbath with body parts everywhere. Injured people, whose arms or legs
were blown off, were paralyzed from shock and could not even scream. Even some
animals that were near the gate were killed, and their corpses mingled with
those of people.
Mohammed Awad, a journalist
who lives in the area, rushed to document the incident. He said what he had
seen was probably the “worst massacre” he encountered since the start of the
war. He told Al-Akhbar that he counted up to 15 shells that
landed on the school and the street that separates it from surrounding homes, adding,
“The strikes were sudden and random. People did not realize what was happening
and they could not escape.”
Awad said that members from
both the Najjar and Amoudi families were killed in the attack, in addition to
the school’s janitor who was on UNRWA’s payroll, adding, “Eight people died in
a single classroom.” The journalist also pointed out that fires broke out at
the school as a result, and spread to a fuel tank and an electricity
generator.
According to Awad, the
majority of families that sought shelter in the school came from the farmlands
in the north, “fleeing with their carts, horses, and donkeys, the source of
their livelihoods.” Awad also stressed that there had been no prior warning
issued to the school.
Mohammed Muhanna also
witnessed the massacre. He said, “Those who know the area know that it is
crowded, and that there is no room to fire rockets from it. The entire area is
civilian and the occupation knows it.” Muhanna was among the first to arrive at
the scene, and helped transport the injured. He also told Al-Akhbar that
there were officials from UNRWA who were checking the schools and surrounding
areas to verify whether there was any threat to people’s lives.
Fuad Abu Qleiq, who was
sheltering in the school, said that he stayed behind to collect the body parts
at the scene, and expressed his sorrow for the fate of the families that came
seeking shelter under UNRWA’s roof. He said angrily, “UNRWA should have
protected us, but it couldn’t, and Israel did not show any respect for it.”
Medical sources put the death
toll at 17 and said 65 people were injured as a result of the massacre. The sources
said that most injuries were critical, some requiring urgent surgery, including
cases that cannot be treated in Gaza’s hospitals.
Faced with the third attack of
its kind on its schools, UNRWA blamed Israel for killing women and children at
the Abu Hussein School and called for holding Israel accountable, as an UNRWA
delegation examined the scene and collected evidence. According to an UNRWA
statement, the delegation analyzed shrapnel samples and examined craters from
the shelling and other damage.
The UNRWA statement said,
“Last night, children were killed as they slept next to their parents on the
floor of a classroom in a UN designated shelter in Gaza. Children killed in
their sleep; this is an affront to all of us, a source of universal shame.
Today the world stands disgraced.”
The statement continued, “We
have visited the site and gathered evidence…Our initial assessment is that it
was Israeli artillery that hit our school, in which 3,300 people had sought
refuge…These are people who were instructed to leave their homes by the Israeli
army.”
Children killed in their sleep; this is an affront to all of us, a source of universal shame. Today the world stands disgraced.” - UNRWA statement UNRWA stressed that the Israeli army had been notified of the exact location of the school and its coordinates, saying, “The precise location of the Jabalia Elementary Girls School and the fact that it was housing thousands of internally displaced people was communicated to the Israeli army seventeen times, to ensure its protection; the last being at ten to nine last night, just hours before the fatal shelling.”
In the same vein, UNRWA
Commissioner General Pierre Krähenbühl said, “I condemn in the strongest
possible terms this serious violation of international law by Israeli forces.”
Krähenbühl added, “This is the sixth time that one of our schools has been
struck. Our staff, the very people leading the humanitarian response are being
killed. Our shelters are overflowing. Tens of thousands may soon be stranded in
the streets of Gaza, without food, water and shelter if attacks on these areas
continue.”
Krähenbühl concluded, “We have
moved beyond the realm of humanitarian action alone. We are in the realm of
accountability. I call on the international community to take deliberate
international political action to put an immediate end to the continuing
carnage.”
Meanwhile, UNRWA spokesperson
Adnan Abu Hasna said that the agency held an emergency meeting, and came out
with several decisions including measures to assist the family of the slain
janitor, who he said “was the responsibility of the agency.” Abu Hasna said
that UNRWA would need to provide for his nine children and offer them support
and compensation.
It should be noted that UNRWA
had claimed during the current conflict that it had found weapons in one of its
schools. UNRWA rushed to announce this in a statement without investigating the
incident following protocol, which helped the Israeli side justify its attacks
in front of public opinion. However, the massacre at Abu Hussein was clearly
unprovoked and unjustified even by UNRWA and Israeli standards.
Allah Akbar
Wallahu 'alam.
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