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Beit Hanoun
UN agency claims it asked Israel for time to evacuate bombed school
Israel claims that the strike which killed 15 people may have come from Hamas.
“We were never granted that window. It is simply inaccurate [to say that the Israelis had offered a chance to leave].
THE UN RELIEF Works Agency (UNRWA) has said that it asked Israel for a window in which to evacuate people from a school that was bombed yesterday, killing 15 people.
It is believed that hundreds had sought refuge from the violence inside the building.
Israeli government spokesperson Mark Regev told the BBC that Israel had told people to evacuate the UN school in Beit Hanoun, but that has been denied by Robert Taylor of UNRWA on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.
“Over the course of yesterday, we had been asking for a time window to withdraw our staff and give the displaced who chose to leave an opportunity to move.
“We were never granted that window. It is simply inaccurate [to say that the Israelis had offered a chance to leave].
“To be clear, Israeli forces have told everyone to leave everywhere within 3km of the boundaries – that is 40% of all of Gaza’s area.”
Taylor said that an investigation was needed, but said that UNRWA schools had been hit four times in the last week.
“I certainly hope [the strikes aren't deliberately targeting schools].
“We have around 150,000 people sheltering in our schools. That’s more than 8% of the entire population of Gaza. They’re coming as a refuge of last resort.”
He added that it was “unfortunately” the case that nowhere in Gaza was realistically safe.
He said that there needed to be a ceasefire.
More than 800 Palestinians have now been killed, including a 23-year-old pregnant woman overnight.
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