Israel shells UN school in Gaza



The UN has called for a war crimes investigation over the shelling of its school [AFP]

Israeli tank shells hit a UN-run school in Gaza, killing at least two people, as war in the Palestinian territory stretched into a 22nd day.

Heavy bombardment of so-called Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip - from artillery on the ground and jets overhead - continued on Saturday despite speculation that Israel will wrap up its military operations later in the day.

The death toll from the now more than three weeks of assault stands at 1,203 Palestinians killed, including more than 400 children according to UN and Palestinian medical sources.

At least 13 Israelis have also died in the same period, including three civilians.

School attacked

A Palestinian woman and a child were killed in the early hours of Saturday at the school run by the UN relief and works agency (Unrwa) in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza.

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Christopher Gunness, an Unrwa spokesman, said several rounds hit the UN school at about 6:45am. After a short pause, the third floor of the school took a direct hit, killing the two and injuring another 14 people.

Witnesses said four more people were killed when other shells struck nearby as people tried to escape.

About 1,600 civilians had sought refuge from the fighting inside the building, Gunness said.

"The Israeli army knew exactly our GPS co-ordinates and they would have known that hundreds of people had taken shelter there," he said.

"When you have a direct hit into the third floor of a UN school, there has to be an investigation to see if a war crime has been committed."

John Ging, the director of Unrwa, told Al Jazeera: "People today are alleging war crimes here in Gaza. Lets have it properly accounted for. Lets have the legal process which will establish exactly what has happened here.

"It is another failure for our humanity and it is exposing the impotence of our [the international community's] inability to protect civilians in conflict."

In Jabaliya refugee camp, a Palestinian doctor from al-Shifa hospital lost his three daughters and one niece during an Israeli air attack. Dr Ezzedine Abu al-Aish is a familiar voice in Israel, where he has been interviewed by local media.

At least 10 people were also killed late on Friday after a tank shell slammed into their home during a funeral wake in Gaza City.

Meanwhile, about five rockets were reported to have been fired from Gaza into southern Israel.

'Unilateral ceasefire'

While Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip intensified on Saturday morning, with some attacks reported in the afternoon, the country's security cabinet is expected to decide on ending the assault, Israeli sources have said.

The move would be seen as preferable to entering into an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire with Hamas, unnamed sources have said.

Tzipi Livni, Israel's foreign minister, said on Israel's Channel 10 television that "the  end doesn't have to be in agreement with Hamas, but rather in arrangements against Hamas".

U

N and Palestinian medical sources say more than 400 children have been killed [AFP]

A unilateral ceasefire would allow Israel to avoid agreeing concessions with Hamas, such as easing the 18-month-old blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has prevented medical aid and basic supplies from reaching the Palestinians.

Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's prime minister, called for an immediate ceasefire and the removal of Israel's troops from the Gaza Strip on Saturday.

Egypt has been pushing Israel and the rival Palestinian factions to reach an agreement, and a Hamas delegation returned to Cairo on Friday for a second round of talks.

Responding to talk of unilateral action by Israel, Hamas on Saturday threatened to ignore such a ceasefire and continue fighting.

"Clearly, we have nothing new to propose ... either we hear what we have proposed [is accepted] or we will go back to the battlefield," Osama Hamdan, Hamas's representative in Lebanon, said.

"The [large] number of our martyrs will not push us to surrender, but to insist on resistance."

Speaking at a forum in Beirut, Hamdan called on Arab leaders to stand by the Palestinian "resistance", and urged European nations to cut ties with Israel for
its "crimes" in Gaza.

An unnamed Israeli official told the AFP news agency that Israeli troops would remain in Gaza in the event of any such ceasefire being called.

"If they [Hamas] decide to open fire, we will not hesitate to respond and continue the offensive," the official was quoted as saying.

Israel's stated aim of the war, which it dubbed Operation Cast Lead, was to halt Palestinian rocket attacks on southern Israel.

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