Ref: 102/2014
Date: 25 July 2014
Time: 13:30 GMT
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) strongly condemns the bloody attack launched by Israeli forces on Thursday, 24 July 2014, on an UNRWA humanitarian shelter, which hosts 800 displaced Palestinian civilians who escaped death. The Israeli attack killed 11 civilians, including 7children and 2 women, and wounded 110 others, including 55 children and 31 women. Israeli forces targeted civilians who sought refuge in an UNRWA school took place a few hours after the UN Human Rights Council had adopted a resolution condemning the crimes committed in the Gaza Strip and forming an independentinternational committee to investigate the Israeli violations in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). This reflects a clear challenge by the Israeli authorities to the international law system and disregard for the international protection mechanisms offered by the UN. This new crime demonstratesIsrael’s insistence on punishing civilians and disrupting their life, safety and security although the UNRWA had coordinated the establishment of humanitarian shelters with the Israeli forces and provided comprehensive geographical schemesof the UNRWA’s facilities and their GPS coordinates. Moreover, the UNRWA facilities are clearly marked as they are coloredin white and blue and the blue UN flag is clearly fixed on top of their buildings.
According to preliminary investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 14:50 on Thursday, 24 July 2014, Israeli tanks that had moved into Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip fired 5 shells at the UNRWA Beit HanounElementary School in Qa’at al-Wad area. The school was opened by the UNRWA for dozens of displaced families who left their houses in the border area in the city. The shells landed on the school’s yard, where the displaced families had gathered in preparation to evacuate it. As a result, 11 civilians were killed, including 7 children and 2 women, and 110 others, including 55 children and 31 women, were wounded and taken to Kamal OdwanHospital in Beit Lahia, al-AwdaHospital in Jabalia and ShifaHospital in Gaza City that received about 25 wounded persons for the seriousness of their wounds. The civilians whowere killed are:
The last one died of his wounds later. The displaced families resorted to this school after Israeli forces had declared launching a ground operation in the Gaza Strip on 17 July 2014. Israeli forces ordered civilians to leave their houses via phone calls and by leaflets that were droppedby warplanes along the border area.
According to UNRWA sources, the number of displaced families in the school that was targetedis about 800 civilians. The UNRWA pointed out that they had not able to officially offer food and services to families in the schoolsince Wednesday, 23 July 2014, due to the Israeli practices. In addition, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) representatives headed to the school upon the request of the UNRWA in order to evacuate who would like to leave the school under the ICRC’s protection. Approximately 40 persons left the school, while the others preferred to stayas there was no other safe shelter for them. UNRWA sources stated that they informed the civilians that they intended to close the school for the gravity of its location on Thursday, 24 July 2014, and agreed with the displaced families on that. During discussions on how to evacuate the school safely, artillery shells suddenly targeted the school and caused this bloody outcome. In the meanwhile, there were 3UNRWA staff members at school.
This war crime is not the first of its kind. On 17 January 2009, Israeli forces fired phosphorus shells at the UNRWA Beit LahiaSchool for boys that was sheltering about 320 families. The attack resulted in killing 2 children (brothers) and wounding 36 others.The school also caught fire.
It should be noted that since the beginning of the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, the number of civilians who escaped from their houses seeking refuge has amounted to over 300,000 displaced persons, 141,338 of whom have resorted to 83 UNRWA schools throughout the Gaza Strip, while others resorted to public schools, hospitals, public facilities and houses of relatives.
PCHR stresses that this crime is part of a series of war crimes that have not been stoppedbecause of the absence of accountability for the grave breaches of the international law committed by Israeli forces against the Palestinian civilians, including children, women, disabled persons and elderly. PCHR believes that such attacks against facilities that are designated for the protection of civilians in wars, especially UNRWAshelters, constitute a violation of the provisions of the customaryinternational law related to distinction and necessary precautions during attacks. The customaryinternational law clearly stipulates that all possible precautions should be taken when choosing means and methods of the military
operations in order to avoid or reduce the level of serious injuries or cause loss among civilians. Furthermore, the customaryinternational law requires that an assailant should do all what is needed to evaluate whether it is expected for the attack to cause losses or serious injuriesamong civilians. The same law defines the indiscriminate attack as the attack which employs a combatmethod or means the effects of which cannot be limited as required by international humanitarian law. Indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks are grave breaches of Geneva Conventions and thus constitute war crimes. The Israeli use of artillery shells in this way constitutes a violation of these laws and provisions. Therefore, PCHR:
