UN slams Israeli claim that Hamas fighters were hiding in bombed Gaza school

The UN slammed Israeli claims that Hamas fighters were at a  Gaza school housing displaced people, which was targeted in an Israeli bombing on Wednesday, killing 18 people and wounding many others.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric reiterated that the school was solely being used as a shelter in a press statement given on Thursday.

"If it was being used with malicious intent, we would have known. There is no evidence of that," he said.

The comments came after Israel alleged its forces had carried out a "precise strike on terrorists operating inside a Hamas command and control centre" in the school.

The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) affiliated school, also known as the Al-Jaouni school, had become a shelter for forcibly displaced Palestinians since the start of the war in the enclave.

According to UN officials, around 12,000 people had sought refuge at the school.

The bombing on the Al-Nuseirat camp on Wednesday, where the school was located, killed 18 people, including six UNRWA staff members.

"We are trying to strike a balance between protecting our staff and providing the assistance that people of Gaza desperately need," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, adding that UN officials were in contact with officials in the Israeli government to try and prevent the killing of UN staff.

"What is happening is totally unacceptable. These dramatic violations of international humanitarian law need to stop now," he added.

Israel's ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, slammed Guterres' criticism of Israel following the statement.

UNRWA also said that last week, the school was being used as a polio vaccination centre.

The attack on the school marks the fifth time Israel has targeted a shelter housing displaced people, sparking worldwide condemnation.

According to UNRWA, the attack on Wednesday was "the highest death toll among our staff in a single incident" since the start of the war.

Photos and videos of the school following the attack showed ambulances and people scrambling to rescue people from the school and take them to the Al-Aqsa hospital, as well as dozens of people inspecting the destruction to the school.

Gaza’s Civil Defence said one of those killed was the daughter of one of their rescue workers, Momin Salmi. A statement from them said he had not seen his daughter Shadia for 10 months because she had stayed in north Gaza while his wife and eight children fled towards the south.

Worldwide condemnation

Josep Borrell, the European Union foreign policy chief, said he was "outraged" by the deaths which showed a "disregard of the basic principles" of international humanitarian law.

Jordan’s foreign ministry also weighed in, denouncing the attack and calling it a “continued violation of international law", criticising the "absence of a strong and decisive international stance."

Israel’s military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said UNRWA did not provide the names of the killed workers "despite repeated requests" and a military enquiry found that a "significant number of the names [of the dead] that have appeared in the media and on social networks are Hamas terrorist operatives”.

UNRWA spokeswoman Juliette Touma confirmed they were "not aware of any such requests" and it provided Israel each year with a list of their staff, as well as made repeated calls for Israel and Palestinian fighters to "never use civilian facilities for military or fighting purposes".

Last month, Al Jazeera reported that Israel has hit more than 500 schools in the past 10 months.

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 41,100 Palestinians since the start of the war and wounded over 95,125 others in the same time frame.

The war on the Strip has levelled entire neighbourhoods and plunged Gaza into a deep humanitarian crisis.