“A large number of the dead are children who were killed in their sleep.” These are the words that Adalah and Al Mezan used for the brutal Israeli army bombing of UNRWA schools and facilities, where more than 10,000 displaced persons fled from their homes to alleged safety from the bombing.
With the beginning of the school year, Adalah in Haifa, Israel, and Al Mezan in Gaza, Palestine, sent a letter demanding that the Israeli Defense Minister, Attorney General, and Chief Military Advocate General open immediate criminal investigations into the Israeli military’s attacks on UNRWA schools and other facilities. The human rights organizations argued that these acts constituted serious violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, which may amount to war crimes, referring to the Israeli military’s bombing of five UNRWA schools and facilities in different areas in Gaza. The letter was prepared by Adalah Attorney Sawsan Zaher. The five events follow:
According to testimonies collected by Al Mezan, early Wednesday morning, on 30 July 2014, the Israeli air force bombed UNRWA offices in the Jabalia refugee camp with five airstrikes back to back. These strikes killed 21 Palestinian civilians and injured more than 100 of the 3,200 displaced persons staying in this location. A large number of the dead children were killed during their sleep.
Displaced Palestinians in the first day of Eid, Gaza, July 28, 2014. More than 200,000 Palestinians have been displaced during the Israeli offensive. 83 UNRWA schools turned into shelters for around 170,000 displaced civilians, as also many hospitals all over the Gaza Strip (Photo: Activestills)
On 3 August 2014, the Israeli military killed 11 civilians including 5 children, and injured 25 displaced persons out of 3,000 who were staying within UNRWA premises in Rafah.
The direct bombing of UNRWA schools in Deir Al Balah city by the Israeli military on 23 July 2014 injured 5 Palestinian civilians staying in the school out of the 1500 refugees who were living there.
On 29 July 2014, Israeli military bombed the UNRWA premises in the Al Zaytoun neighborhood. This facility was housing 2,200 displaced persons, and 8 people were injured due to the attack.
On 24 July 2014, the Israeli military bombed UNRWA schools in Beit Hanoun. These facilities were sheltering 300 displaced persons, from which 15 were killed and more than 100 were injured. The majority of these injured were women and children. Adalah and Al Mezan, in a previous letter sent on 27 July 2014, asked the Israeli authorities to open an independent criminal investigation into suspected war crimes by the Israeli military concerning this event.
Adalah and Al Mezan argued in these letters that Israeli military failed to differentiate between civilian and military targets concerning each of these attacks on UNRWA facilities, and that it violated its duty to protect civilians during fighting. “International humanitarian law also requires Israel to open an immediate criminal investigation in these suspected serious war crimes and to hold the perpetrators accountable.”
During the war, 174 schools in Gaza were bombed and damaged. 26 public schools and 1 UNRWA school in Gaza did not open its doors at the beginning of the school year of 2014/2015 after being completely destroyed by the Israeli military. 30 other schools were not able to open because of the high numbers of displaced persons still residing in them and 447 children killed during the Israeli military attacks will not return to school at all.
The list of public schools in Gaza that were completely destroyed and damaged as a result of the Israeli military aggression was published in Arabic by the Palestinian Ministry of Education:
1. Hani Na’eem School of Agriculture
2. Abu Tammam’s Basic School
3. Hayel Abdel Hameed School
4. Mahdeya el Shawa School
5. Subhi Abu Karsh School
6. The Shujayea Martyrs School
7. Beit Dajan School
8. Ali Bin Abi Talib School
9. Shujayea Basic School
10. Abbas Secondary School
11. Jamal Abd el Nasser School
12. Moaz Bin Jabal School
13. Mahatet Miyah el Karamah School
14. Caesarea School
15. Sukina Bin Hussein School
16. Khawla Bint el Azur School
17. Rudolph Filter School
18. Ibn Zaidun School
19. El Bareej School
20. Fathi el Balawi School
21. Maari School for Girls
22. Maari School for Boys
23. Ibn el Nafis School
24. Absan New School
25. Ghassan Kanafani School for Girls
26. Ghassan Kanafani School for Boys
