Israeli bombs three, not one, schools in a day, plus homes and ambulances

RAMALLAH, Jan 6 (IPS) - At least 42 Palestinians sheltering in a UN school in the Jabaliya refugee camp near Gaza city were killed Tuesday afternoon after two Israeli tank shells exploded outside the school.

Hundreds of terrified Palestinians, desperately trying to escape the bombing, had sought shelter there assuming that a clearly marked school would not be targeted. Palestinian sources reported that the school was one of 26 residential buildings hit Tuesday.

Another UN facility, the Ash-Shouka School in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, was bombarded Monday night.

The UN Relief and Welfare Agency (UNRWA) said that prior to the current fighting it had given the Israeli authorities the GPS co-ordinates of all its installations in Gaza, including the schools. The organisation has demanded an explanation from Israel, and called for an investigation....

Earlier Tuesday another 13 Palestinians were killed in the Zeitoun suburb of Gaza city when their apartment building collapsed after sustaining a direct hit. And at least 30 Palestinians were killed as Israeli warships shelled targets in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza and the Al-Brej refugee camp near Gaza city.


These latest attacks bring the Palestinian death toll to nearly 600 on day 11 of Israel's Operation Cast Lead.

Meanwhile the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which has declared a "full-blown humanitarian crisis" in Gaza, said it is investigating reports that a Palestinian Red Crescent (PRC) ambulance station in Jabaliya refugee camp was targeted Monday night.

In an earlier attack last Friday, the ICRC reported that two clearly marked ambulance medics from the PRC, evacuating the dead and wounded from an earlier Israeli attack, were targeted by Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) fire.

( IPS News )

(PS. a third school isn't mentioned here because they were luckily no casualties)