Unrwa Action Urged Over Israel Shelling Of Gaza Schools

The Palestinian Interior Ministry has urged the U.N. Palestinian refugees agency (UNRWA) to "end its silence" and take a firm action against the deadly Israeli shelling of its schools in the Gaza Strip.



"Several UNRWA-run schools was shelled by the Israeli occupation army while housing displaced Palestinians, leaving dozens dead…and we did not see any condemnation or denouncement from the UNRWA unfortunately," the ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.



The release came hours after an Israeli artillery shelling of UNRWA's Abu Hussein school in northern Gaza Strip left at least 13 Palestinians dead and dozens others wounded.



"When the UNRWA claimed finding a weapon in one of its schools in Gaza, it promptly issued a statement on the incident without even waiting for an investigation," the statement said. "Such attitude offered a big service to the Israeli occupation that was eagerly waiting for such a chance to justify its crimes against civilians."



Eyewitnesses said that body parts of women and children were strewn across the Abu Hussein school that used to house dozens of families that had their houses destroyed by the Israeli army earlier this month.



The school was the second such UNRWA facility to be hit by the Israeli army within one week. On Thursday, at least 15 Palestinian civilians were killed when the Israeli army shelled the Beit Hanoun school, also in northern Gaza Strip.



The latest fatalities brought up to 1254 the number of Palestinians killed in the ongoing Israeli military operation in Gaza.



Since July 7, Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip – from air, land and sea – with devastating bombardments with the ostensible aim of halting rocket fire from the strip.



Israel claims that the offensive, now in its fourth week, aims at halting rocket fire from the blockaded Palestinian territory.



At least 56 Israelis – 53 soldiers and three civilians – have been killed since the hostilities began.



Israel's military operation, dubbed operation "Protective Edge," is the self-proclaimed Jewish state's third major offensive against the densely-populate Gaza Strip – which is home to some 1.8 million Palestinians – within the last six years.



In 2008/9, over 1500 Palestinians were killed in Israel's three-week-long operation "Cast Lead."



By Mustafa Haboosh



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