School bombing kills 15 as cease-fire hopes fade away

Raid hits people forced out of homes; 40 others die in attacks

Israeli tank shells slammed into a crowded UN school on Wednesday sheltering Palestinians displaced by fighting, killing 15 and wounding 90 after tearing through the walls of two classrooms, a spokesman for a UN aid agency and a health official said.

The Israeli military said mortar shells had been fired from near the school, and that soldiers fired back.

Israeli airstrikes and shelling also killed 40 Palestinians elsewhere in the coastal territory Wednesday, including multiple members of two families struck in their homes, health officials said.

The new violence further dimmed hopes of a cease-fire.

The strike at the UN school in the Jebaliya refugee camp came as part of Israel's heaviest air and artillery assault in more than three weeks of Israel-Hamas fighting.

The Israeli campaign escalated on Tuesday, with airstrikes destroying key symbols of Hamas power, including the home of the top Hamas leader. Gaza's only power plant was shut down after shells set its fuel tank on fire.

On Wednesday, Israeli aircraft struck dozens of Gaza sites, including five mosques it said were being used by militants, while several other areas came under tank fire.

In Jebaliya, tank shells hit the UN school before dawn, said Adnan Abu Hasna, a spokesman for the UN Relief and Works Agency. The agency is sheltering more than 200,000 people displaced by the fighting at dozens of UN schools across the coastal strip.

Assad Sabah said he and his five children were huddling under desks in one of the classrooms because of the constant sound of tank fire throughout the night.

"We were scared to death," he said. "After 4:30 am, tanks started firing more. Three explosions shook the school.

"One classroom collapsed over the head of the people who were inside," he said.

In one classroom, the front wall was blown out, leaving debris and bloodied clothing. Another strike tore a large round hole into the ceiling of a second-floor classroom. The wall of the lavatories was also damaged.

The Israeli military said it fired after its soldiers were targeted by mortars operating from the vicinity of the school.

"In response, soldiers fired toward the origins of fire. And we're still reviewing the incident," the military said in a statement.

About two hours after the strike, hundreds of people still crowded the school courtyard, some dazed, others wailing.

Aishe Abu Darabeh, 56, sat on the ground with her relatives.

"Where will we go?" she asked. "Where will we go next? We fled and they (the Israelis) are following us."

Four of the dead were killed just outside the school compound, two in their home nearby and two in the street, after returning from pre-dawn prayers, their relatives said.

The bodies of two members of the al-Najar family, 56-year-old Shaher and his 41-year-old brother, Bassem, were laid out in one of the rooms of their small home, surrounded by wailing relatives.

Outside the gate, another relative held on to his crying son, hugging him tight and saying: "I'm here, I'm not going anywhere."

Abu Hasna, the UN agency spokesman, said the international community must step in.

"It's the responsibility of the world to tell us what we shall do with more than 200,000 people who are inside our schools, thinking that the UN flag will protect them," he said. "This incident today proves that no place is safe in Gaza."

Ashraf al-Kidra, a Gaza health official, said at least 15 people were killed and about 90 wounded in the school strike.

In all, 55 Palestinians were killed by airstrikes and tank shelling in different areas of Gaza on Wednesday, al-Kidra said.

In the southern town of Khan Younis, 10 members of one family were killed when an airstrike hit a relative's home where they had sought refuge from the fighting, al-Kidra said.

(China Daily 07/31/2014 page11)