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Comments: 139

Last update - 13:06 09/01/2009

UN: IDF officers admitted there was no gunfire from Gaza school which was shelled

By Barak Ravid and Akiva Eldar, Haaretz Correspondent

Tags: UN, Israel News, UNRWA, Gaza

The United Nations is claiming Israeli military officers have admitted there was no Palestinian gunfire emanating from inside an UNRWA school in Gaza which was shelled by an IDF tank.

Dozens of Palestinians were killed in the shelling.

In addition, UNRWA Thursday announced it will cease activities in the Strip due to the death of an UNRWA staffer in an IDF shelling during Thursday morning's humanitarian hiatus.

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UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness told Haaretz yesterday that the army had conceded wrongdoing.

"In briefings senior [Israel Defense Forces] officers conducted for foreign diplomats, they admitted the shelling to which IDF forces in Jabalya were responding did not originate from the school," Gunness said. "The IDF admitted in that briefing that the attack on the UN site was unintentional."

He noted that all the footage released by the IDF of militants firing from inside the school was from 2007 and not from the incident itself.

"There are no up-to-date photos," Gunness said. "In 2007, we abandoned the site and only then did the militants take it over."

The UNRWA is now demanding an objective investigation into whether the school shelling constituted a violation of international humanitarian law, and if so, that those responsible stand trial.

The UN reported Thursday that a Palestinian working for the UNRWA was killed by an IDF tank shell while driving an aid truck at the Erez border crossing. The organization claims the UN truck was well-marked and the incident took place during the humanitarian hiatus slated to allow Gaza residents to acquire supplies

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1.	Despite UNClaims There Is No Breach of International Law	02:58	\|	Robert	09/01/09

2.	Was the site still abandoned in 2009?	03:11	\|	Mordechai	09/01/09

3.	UNRWA lies	03:12	\|	Gili	09/01/09

4.	Without accountability war crimes will remain unpunished	03:33	\|	Ben Alofs	09/01/09

5.	Hamas Violation of Military Law	03:42	\|	David M.	09/01/09

6.	IDF lies again	03:58	\|	Steve Beikirch	09/01/09

7.	More indiscriminate killing by IDF	04:08	\|	David	09/01/09

8.	Uh oh...	04:25	\|	talknic	09/01/09

9.	#1 - IDF officers admitted Gaza school shelling was by mistake	04:41	\|	Iamashamed	09/01/09

10.	what does that make of the champions ?	04:50	\|	Truth	09/01/09

11.	Mordechai - Wait another minute:	04:52	\|	Fritz	09/01/09

12.	Well, there`s a first time for everything....	05:31	\|	Silvienne	09/01/09

13.	so another war to prevent civilian deaths predictably	05:55	\|	newageblues	09/01/09

14.	Proof Positive	06:08	\|	Yousef	09/01/09

15.	AP Supports Israel`s Version of Events	06:49	\|	MichaelF	09/01/09

16.	Deja vu situation	06:55	\|	Caroline	09/01/09

17.	It`s a mistake; why no concern about deliberate targeting?	07:16	\|	Bob	09/01/09

18.	#2 Silvienne, they still haven`t owned up in public	07:17	\|	Johnboy	09/01/09

19.	UN official "accidently" vindicates Israel	07:38	\|	HEB 5133	09/01/09

20.	What about the original attempt to cover up the crime?	08:55	\|	Maureen Ann	09/01/09

21.	So, the initial IDF cover story was a complete lie?	09:07	\|	Clickfool	09/01/09

22.	So what was with all the lying hasbara?	10:01	\|	Michael	09/01/09

23.	Now that they admitted the error	10:03	\|	Galilee Hero	09/01/09

24.	774 murdered by mistake!!!?	10:16	\|	Gustaf	09/01/09

25.	Justice?	10:19	\|	Christos	09/01/09

26.	# 2 : Silvienne, it is not the first time	10:21	\|	tristan	09/01/09

27.	Silvienne - # 2	10:34	\|	Michael D.	09/01/09

28.	So ???	10:35	\|	Sam Soul	09/01/09

29.	Where`s Chopria and PETER and BEN defending the righteous IDF?	10:36	\|	Tupac	09/01/09

30.	ANOTHER FAILURE... 2006-2009!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!	10:37	\|	DAVID	09/01/09

31.	UN Bulls........t	10:49	\|	Jane	09/01/09

32.	To Tristan	11:00	\|	Can	09/01/09

33.	Regev assured UK it was a justified attack	11:16	\|	Roo	09/01/09

34.	Garbage in, garbage out!!	11:17	\|	Dr. Jack	09/01/09

35.	Jane - yes, let`s wait and see	12:03	\|	Silvie	09/01/09

36.	IDF Gaza	12:04	\|	Jack Sjein	09/01/09

37.	More "mistakes"	12:19	\|	Lars Hansen	09/01/09

38.	Whoops	12:20	\|	welshman	09/01/09

39.	As of today, Engl. IDF site has this much to say on the mistake:	12:32	\|	zmogus	09/01/09

40.	UNRWA	12:44	\|	Df	09/01/09

41.	UNWRA created their own mess	13:16	\|	Donna	09/01/09

42.	compensation?	13:29	\|	ptr	09/01/09

43.	But who will believe it?	13:33	\|	Mark Lincoln	09/01/09

44.	Jane, Earth to Jane, come in Jane	13:35	\|	Mark Lincoln	09/01/09

45.	Even if there was gunfire	13:36	\|	T	09/01/09

46.	So the school...	13:43	\|	nina	09/01/09

47.	Tupac, the UN was proven to be corrupted and dishonest	13:50	\|	Simon	09/01/09

48.	# 6 Galilee. Yes, they have to	14:08	\|	Charles	09/01/09

49.	Sad mistake !	14:12	\|	Johann	09/01/09

50.	Fools run unimpeded on this forum	14:14	\|	Darth Zaider (Ed)	09/01/09

51.	Livni, Barak, Olmert and Askenazi	14:27	\|	Chris Linthwaite	09/01/09

52.	#7 - Uninformed Gustaf	14:58	\|	MichaelF	09/01/09

53.	MISTAKE?	15:03	\|	Emilio	09/01/09

54.	why Yousef 4?	15:13	\|	malcom	09/01/09

55.	That`s Strange Because Al-Jazeera...	15:18	\|	Yosemite	09/01/09

56.	UN propaganda? Israel always seems to admit mistakes that aren`t	15:19	\|	Ari	09/01/09

57.	UN reliability	15:30	\|	La Cumparsita	09/01/09

58.	Propagand by UN.How do we know this claim is true?	15:38	\|	S Judah	09/01/09

59.	IDF mistakes, 770 dead, 3700 injured	15:57	\|	Tarek	09/01/09

60.	Tragic, but mistakes occur	16:10	\|	smit	09/01/09

61.	Who are those "officers"?	16:13	\|	Gene	09/01/09

62.	Gaza	16:18	\|	Adel	09/01/09

63.	who believes the UN ?	16:39	\|	Abert Lificoté	09/01/09

64.	And Palestinians admit that there was gunfire	16:43	\|	Gee	09/01/09

65.	Its hard to feel sorry	16:47	\|	PAuline	09/01/09

66.	to Mark Lincoln #14	16:50	\|	Ilya	09/01/09

67.	Innocent civilians	17:02	\|	Peter	09/01/09

68.	UN claim without merit	17:08	\|	Ofer	09/01/09

69.	I`m sorry Mark, but I missed the spot where the UN obtained its	17:21	\|	Jacob Blues	09/01/09

70.	UN - Lying, Yet Again	17:52	\|	Erich	09/01/09

71.	#2 Silvienne	17:54	\|	Moshe	09/01/09

72.	Shooting from school in 2007 all right?	17:58	\|	Ester	09/01/09

73.	UN	17:58	\|	israeli	09/01/09

74.	its what Israel does best	17:59	\|	gearoid	09/01/09

75.	to Christos#8	18:05	\|	Ilya	09/01/09

76.	UN driver - the real deal	18:05	\|	tuvia	09/01/09

77.	Israeli War criminals	18:22	\|	John Levy	09/01/09

78.	Working for hamas agenda	18:34	\|	Francisco	09/01/09

79.	Will anybody in the Hamas also stand trial?	18:41	\|	AA	09/01/09

80.	re 12 not wanting to speak for ben, peter, chopria but	19:09	\|	alan the real one	09/01/09

81.	IDF officers admitted there was no gunfire from Gaza school which	19:13	\|	annette	09/01/09

82.	News Flash-- Israel is always wrong!	19:15	\|	Jordan	09/01/09

83.	Bigger Picture	19:19	\|	Dan	09/01/09

84.	Mistake?	19:21	\|	Rob	09/01/09

85.	For what it`s worth	19:27	\|	Chris Linthwaite	09/01/09

86.	IDF officers admitted there was no gunfire from Gaza school which	19:36	\|	Sarah	09/01/09

87.	Unnamed IDF officer	19:59	\|	Gee	09/01/09

88.	War crimes	20:17	\|	Jordan	09/01/09

89.	War Crimes	20:20	\|	Allan	09/01/09

90.	Humble enough to admit it	20:26	\|	Karen K	09/01/09

91.	To # 20- Maureen Ann	20:30	\|	Johann	09/01/09

92.	Re: Bigger picture	20:40	\|	Harry	09/01/09

93.	#71, Moshe, this isn`t about Tokyo or Dresden....	20:55	\|	Silvienne	09/01/09

94.	Unintentional?	20:56	\|	hollingsworth	09/01/09

95.	Chris Linthwaite #85	21:06	\|	Gee	09/01/09

96.	Civilized people Sarah?	21:26	\|	Mark Lincoln	09/01/09

97.	In reply to 71: talk about heartless	21:40	\|	Jordan	09/01/09

98.	IT WAS NOT A MISTAKE... IT WAS A WAR CRIME	21:41	\|	Russel	09/01/09

99.	#41 Donna	01:40	\|	Boycott	10/01/09

100.	Not according to the New York Times	01:42	\|	Bob	10/01/09

101.	#72 That is a non-sequitor, Ester	01:53	\|	Johnboy	10/01/09

102.	Propaganda, lies and video tape	02:09	\|	Sean	10/01/09

103.	School Days	02:12	\|	Shelly	10/01/09

104.	Jenin	02:21	\|	Rab Burns	10/01/09

105.	Simon: I never said UN is perfect just like IDF, US Military	04:15	\|	Tupac	10/01/09

106.	#97 Jordan	04:16	\|	Moshe	10/01/09

107.	Remember Jenin? - Yes I do Rab	06:23	\|	Mark Lincoln	10/01/09

108.	War Crime Again?	07:33	\|	Jim	10/01/09

109.	war of photos	12:12	\|	Karmel	10/01/09

110.	Sorry	13:02	\|	Brendan	10/01/09

111.	this is so TYPICAL of idf "damage control"	13:09	\|	eric	10/01/09

112.	Crimes against humanity have no excuses...	13:11	\|	ClearCut	10/01/09

113.	UN Liars	13:11	\|	Jeff	10/01/09

114.	Am Israel Chai	13:14	\|	secondary explosions	10/01/09

115.	Now the rest of the world	13:22	\|	Dav	10/01/09

116.	how many civilians did hamas kill? and israel?	13:27	\|	ClearCut	10/01/09

117.	Propaganda	14:00	\|	Facundo	10/01/09

118.	"Shelling did not originate from School" but...	16:49	\|	Rob	10/01/09

119.	The full story is NOT out yet, The UN account cannot be trusted	19:42	\|	Doc Holliday	10/01/09

120.	A possible lie? IMPORTANT	19:54	\|	onimo	10/01/09

121.	Hamas is the true source to blame	20:04	\|	George	10/01/09

122.	#116 Biascut (2nd try)	20:25	\|	Moshe	10/01/09

123.	Terrorismo, no	20:33	\|	Jose Luis	10/01/09

124.	HAARETZ: If you publish something, you have to give NAMES!	20:49	\|	Vittorio	10/01/09

125.	77 John Levy	20:52	\|	Jose Marcio	10/01/09

126.	UN:"IDF admits"?	20:52	\|	Arie	10/01/09

127.	#85 Chris Linthwaite	20:53	\|	Moshe	10/01/09

128.	A war crime for sure	21:07	\|	American	10/01/09

129.	UN Ambulances used to transport Hamas fighters	21:21	\|	Lynn	10/01/09

130.	Accidental shooting and intentional coverup	21:40	\|	meir gush etzion	10/01/09

131.	Investigate it all	22:03	\|	QC	10/01/09

132.	The IDF shelling was a mistake...	23:41	\|	Romy	10/01/09

133.	To Romy	03:21	\|	American 2	11/01/09

134.	Israel is a state of terrorism	09:09	\|	Canadian	11/01/09

135.	Cognitive dissonance or plain ignorance	09:38	\|	Brahim	11/01/09

136.	hamas	14:52	\|	amoori	11/01/09

137.	IDF bombing of UN School	16:46	\|	Julie G. Lira	28/01/09

138.	Calling UN liars?	16:52	\|	Julie G.L.	28/01/09

139.	This is a War Crime	22:49	\|	Patrick M. Griffin	06/02/09

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