The US government issued its strongest criticism of Israel to date Sunday, after a shelling near a UN school sheltering civilians took at least 10 Palestinian lives in Gaza.
“The United States is appalled by today’s disgraceful shelling outside an UNRWA school in Rafah sheltering some 3,000 displaced persons,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, in reference to the UN Relief and Works Agency school.
“The suspicion that militants are operating nearby does not justify strikes that put at risk the lives of so many innocent civilians.”
There were several children among the dead at the school, according to reports.
The statement also included an admonishment to Hamas that “UN facilities, especially those sheltering civilians, must be protected, and must not be used as bases from which to launch attacks.”
Israel has said Hamas is responsible for the heavy death toll because it has been using civilians as human shields.
The Israeli military said it had targeted three wanted militants on a motorcycle in the vicinity of the school shelter and was “reviewing the consequences of this strike.”
Psaki’s statement marked the first time during the current Gaza conflict that the United States has said explicitly that suspected Hamas activity in the area does not justify Israeli attacks that risk civilian lives.
Calling for a “full and prompt investigation,” Psaki referenced international law and said that “Israel must do more to meet its own standards and avoid civilian casualties.”
Israel withdrew most of its ground troops from Gaza on Sunday in an apparent winding-down of the nearly monthlong war with Hamas that has left more than 1,800 Palestinians and 60 Israelis dead.
An Israeli military spokesman said 30 tunnels had been found along the border for what he called a “synchronized attack” on Israel.
“We’ve caused substantial damage to this network to an extent where we’ve basically taken this huge threat and made it minimal,” he said.
Israeli artillery shells slammed into two high-rise office buildings Sunday in downtown Gaza City, police and witnesses said. More than 50 Palestinians were reportedly killed, including 10 members of one family in a single strike in the southern Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian health official Ashraf Al-Kidra.
Israel said it attacked 63 sites Sunday and that nearly 100 rockets and mortars were fired at Israel.
A day earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu angrily warned the White House “not to ever second-guess me again” on matters involving Hamas.
Meanwhile, a new report surfaced alleging that Israel eavesdropped on phone calls made by US Secretary of State John Kerry during peace talks with Israelis, Palestinians and Arab heads of state last year.
“During the peak stage of peace talks last year, Kerry spoke regularly with high-ranking negotiating partners in the Middle East . . . Intelligence agencies intercepted some of those calls,’’ said the German magazine Der Spiegel.
“The government in Jerusalem then used the information” to try to gain leverage in the talks, which ultimately failed anyway.
Additional reporting by Marisa Schultz and Post Wires