Israeli shelling of Gaza UN school kills 20 people: Medics
PUBLISHED ONJuly 30, 2014 4:34 AM
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories - An Israeli shelling on a UN school being used as a shelter in the northern Gaza Strip killed 20 people on Wednesday, medics said.
A UN official put the initial death toll at 16.
The shelling hit the school in Jabalia refugee camp, emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said, on the 23rd day of Israel's military campaign against the Palestinian coastal territory.
An AFP correspondent said that at least one shell had hit the school - the outer wall of the complex was damaged by shellfire - and in a bombed-out classroom people were picking body parts off a blood-soaked floor.
An official for the UN's Palestinian refugee agency, who requested anonymity, confirmed the strike, saying it hit a bathroom and two classrooms inside the UNRWA girls' school.
The army had begun heavy tank shelling in the area a couple of hours prior to the incident, an AFP correspondent said.
The shelling brought Wednesday morning's death toll to at least 32, in a conflict that has killed more than 1,260 people in 23 days, according to Qudra's figures.