"Israel shells near UN school, killing at least 30
GAZA CITY, Gaza – Israeli mortar shells exploded Tuesday near a U.N. school in Gaza that was sheltering hundreds of people displaced by Israel's onslaught against Hamas militants, killing at least 30 Palestinians, tearing bodies apart and staining streets with blood.
Israel's military said its shelling — the deadliest single episode since Israeli ground forces invaded Gaza Saturday — was a response to mortar fire from within the school and said Hamas militants were using civilians as cover.
Two residents of the area who spoke by telephone said they saw a small group of militants firing mortar rounds from a street near the school, where 350 people had gathered to get away from the shelling. They spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.
Majed Hamdan, an AP photographer, rushed to the scene shortly after the attacks. At the hospital, he said, many children were among the dead.
"I saw women and men — parents — slapping their faces in grief, screaming, some of them collapsed to the floor. They knew their children were dead," he said. "In the morgue, most of the killed appeared to be children. In the hospital, there wasn't enough space for the wounded."
He said there appeared to be marks on the pavement of five separate explosions in area of the school....
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Some 15,000 Palestinians have packed the U.N.'s 23 Gaza schools because their homes were destroyed or to flee the violence. The U.N. provided the Israeli military with GPS coordinates for all of them....
The three mortar shells that crashed down on the perimeter of the U.N. school struck at mid-afternoon, when many people in the densely populated camp were outside getting some fresh air, thinking an area around a school was safe.
Images recorded by a cameraman from AP Television News showed crowds fleeing the scene, pavements smeared with blood and battered bodies of the dead being carried off by medics and horrified bystanders. A youth who limped away from the scene was helped along by several others. Sandals were scattered on the pavement by a pock-marked wall....
The U.N. agency that runs the school along with other programs for Palestinian refugees said two other U.N. schools in Gaza were struck by Israeli fire since Monday night. In the first incident, an airstrike on the Asma Elementary School in Gaza City killed three men who were among more than 400 people taking refuge in the building. In the other, an artillery shell landed inside an empty boys school in Jebaliya.
"There's nowhere safe in Gaza. Everyone here is terrorized and traumatized," said John Ging, head of Gaza operations for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency....
A total of 71 Palestinians were killed Tuesday — with just two confirmed as militants, health officials in Gaza said.... Despite international criticism over civilian deaths and calls for a cease-fire, Israeli tanks rumbled closer to the towns of Khan Younis and Dir el Balah in south and central Gaza but were still several miles outside, witnesses said. Israel already has encircled Gaza City, the area's biggest city.
--MORE--""'40 killed at UN school' in Gaza
Israeli tank shells killed at least 40 Palestinians today at a UN school where civilians had taken shelter, medical officials said, in carnage likely to boost international calls for a halt to Israel's Gaza offensive. An Israeli military spokeswoman said she was looking into information on the incident at al-Fakhora school in Jabalya refugee camp.
Think about that for a minute. Refugees in their own land!
People cut down by shrapnel lay in pools of blood on the street. Witnesses said two Israeli tanks shells exploded outside the school, killing at least 40 civilians - Palestinians who had taken refuge there and residents of nearby buildings.
In a separate attack earlier in the day, three Palestinians were killed in an airstrike on another school run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. The deaths raised to 75 the number of Palestinian civilians killed on Tuesday alone, according to medical officials.
They said four militants also were killed in fighting during the day and put the total Palestinian death toll since Israel began the offensive on 19 December at 629. More than 2,700 Palestinians have been wounded
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"Report: Dozens dead in IDF strikes Number of Palestinian citizens killed in Gaza increases dramatically, as UNWRA school sustains direct hit; at least 30 Palestinians evacuated from their homes die. Earlier, building in Zeitoun neighborhood collapses following bombing, some 13 people killed
Ali Waked
Dozens of civilians killed in Gaza: Palestinians reported Tuesday that dozens of people have been killed since the afternoon hours in three separate Israel Defense Force strikes on civilian targets. Sources in the Strip reported that at least 40 civilians were killed in an attack near a United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNWRA) school in northern Gaza. A UN spokesman said 30 Palestinians were killed in the strike. Palestinian sources reported that several shells hit the UN's al-Fahoura school. The school housed Palestinians forced to leave their homes which are located near the border fence for fear for their lives. The residents were living in the school's classrooms and corridors. The shelter turned into a fire zone when several shells hit the school, killing at least 40 people, including many women and children. Palestinians reported that the number of casualties may rise as many people were critically hurt and the rescue teams had yet to reach all of the injured. This was second UNWRA school hit Tuesday. At least three civilians were killed in an IDF strike on another school housing residents who fled their homes for fear for their lives. Scene of strike in Zeitoun neighborhood (Photo: AFP) Earlier, Palestinians reported that 13 people, including nine members of one family, were killed as a house in the Zeitoun neighborhood sustained a direct hit. Among the dead were six children aged one to 12. Some 40 people were living in the four-story structure, and all gathered in the ground floor for fear of a shell hitting the upper floors. A missile fired by a warplane caused the building to collapse. Rescue teams searched for bodies and survivors under the rubble for hours. Palestinians reported that the rescue teams were shot at several times as they attempted to evacuate the injured. New agencies released difficult images from the scene of the incident, showing children buried under the rubble.... --MORE--"
