‘Children killed in their sleep’: Israeli artillery fire hits UN school, killing at least 20

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Written by Alex Kane Alex Kane

Published: 30 July 2014 30 July 2014

Israeli military fire hit a United Nations-run school in Gaza today, killing at least 20 people and injuring an estimated 90 people. The school under attack, called the Abu Hussein girls’ elementary school, is located in the densely-populated Jabaliya refugee camp.

The United Nations Relief Works and Agency (UNRWA), the group that serves Palestinian refugees, issued a stern statement placing the blame for the attack on the Israeli army.

“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,” said UNRWA Secretary General Pierre Krähenbühl. “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.”

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Response from Senator Ron Wyden regarding Gaza

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Written by Oregon Senator Ron Wyden and Omar Baddar Oregon Senator Ron Wyden and Omar Baddar

Published: 30 July 2014 30 July 2014

[Senator Wyden's response below has only some relationship to the truth and to the sequences of events culminating in Operation Protective Edge.  Read Omar Baddar's article Debunking the myths about Gaza: The truth behind Israeli and Palestinian talking points for providing a proper context rooted in actual events]

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Statement: Legal experts and human rights defenders demand international community end Israel’s collective punishment of Gaza

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Written by Mondoweiss Editors Mondoweiss Editors

Published: 29 July 2014 29 July 2014

The International Community Must End Israel’s Collective Punishment of the Civilian Population in the Gaza Strip

As international and criminal law scholars, human rights defenders, legal experts and individuals who firmly believe in the rule of law and in the necessity for its respect in times of peace and more so in times of war, we feel the intellectual and moral duty to denounce the grave violations, mystification and disrespect of the most basic principles of the laws of armed conflict and of the fundamental human rights of the entire Palestinian population committed during the ongoing Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip. We also condemn the launch of rockets from the Gaza Strip, as every indiscriminate attack against civilians, regardless of the identity of the perpetrators, is not only illegal under international law but also morally intolerable. However, as also implicitly noted by the UN Human Rights Council in its Resolution of the 23th July 2014, the two parties to the conflict cannot be considered equal, and their actions – once again – appear to be of incomparable magnitude.

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Video: Celebrities, artists and activists call for Palestinian freedom in #GazaNames project

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Written by Jewish Voice for Peace Jewish Voice for Peace

Published: 29 July 2014 29 July 2014