The UN School that Wasn’t Hit
Several weeks ago, 40 Palestinians were tragically killed in Jabalya by Israeli fire. News reports at the time indicated they had been targeted inside a UN-run school. Now, that case isn’t so clear.
This, from the Globe and Mail:
JABALYA, GAZA STRIP — Most people remember the headlines: Massacre Of Innocents As UN School Is Shelled; Israeli Strike Kills Dozens At UN School.
They heralded the tragic news of Jan. 6, when mortar shells fired by advancing Israeli forces killed 43 civilians in the Jabalya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. The victims, it was reported, had taken refuge inside the Ibn Rushd Preparatory School for Boys, a facility run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.
The news shocked the world and was compared to the 1996 Israeli attack on a UN compound in Qana, Lebanon, in which more than 100 people seeking refuge were killed. It was certain to hasten the end of Israel’s attack on Gaza, and would undoubtedly lead the list of allegations of war crimes committed by Israel.
There was just one problem: The story, as etched in people’s minds, was not quite accurate.
See the Globe and Mail for more.
The deaths of these civilians, like all Palestinian and Israeli civilian deaths, is a tragic fact. We learn that we ought not rush to conclusions in these matters, and that perhaps a full investigation might uncover a fuller version of events.
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