[IDF Spokesperson's Office to IMRA: The initial inquiry of the incident
indicates that mortars were fired at soldiers from then vicinity of the
school in Jabalia. The soldiers responded by firing towards the origins of
the fire. The incident is being investigated.]

UNRWA Strongly Condemns Israeli Shelling of Its School in Gaza as a Serious
Violation of International Law
STATEMENT BY UNRWA COMMISSIONER GENERAL, PIERRE KRAHENBUHL
JERUSALEM 30 JULY 2014

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.

We have visited the site and gathered evidence. We have analysed fragments,
examined craters and other damage. Our initial assessment is that it was
Israeli artillery that hit our school, in which 3,300 people had sought
refuge. We believe there were at least three impacts. It is too early to
give a confirmed official death toll. But we know that there were multiple
civilian deaths and injuries including of women and children and the UNRWA
guard who was trying to protect the site. These are people who were
instructed to leave their homes by the Israeli army.

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.

I condemn in the strongest possible terms this serious violation of
international law by Israeli forces.

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.

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.

– Ends –





Background information



UNRWA is a United Nations agency established by the General Assembly in 1949
and is mandated to provide assistance and protection to a population of some
five million registered Palestine refugees. Its mission is to help Palestine
refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank and the Gaza Strip to achieve
their full potential in human development, pending a just solution to their
plight. UNRWA’s services encompass education, health care, relief and social
services, camp infrastructure and improvement, and microfinance.



Financial support to UNRWA has not kept pace with an increased demand for
services caused by growing numbers of registered refugees, expanding need,
and deepening poverty. As a result, the Agency's General Fund (GF),
supporting UNRWA’s core activities and 97 per cent reliant on voluntary
contributions, has begun each year with a large projected deficit. Currently
the deficit stands at US$ 68 million.



For more information, please contact:



Christopher Gunness
UNRWA Spokesperson
Mobile: +972 (0)54 240 2659
Office: +972 (0)2 589 0267

c.gunness@unrwa.org
Sami Mshasha
UNRWA Arabic Spokesperson
Mobile: +972 (0)54 216 8295
Office: +972 (0)2 589 0724
s.mshasha@unrwa.org