WASHINGTON: The United States has rejected the Israeli claim that it shelled a UN school in Gaza because Hamas militants were hiding there and called the air strike an appalling and “disgraceful” act.

“The suspicion that militants are operating nearby does not justify strikes that put at risk the lives of so many innocent civilians,” said the US State Department. “We call for a full and prompt investigation of this incident as well as the recent shelling of other UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency) schools.”

The State Department’s spokesperson Jen Psaki reminded Israel that the school had been designated a protected location because it sheltered more than 3,000 displaced persons.

“We once again stress that Israel must do more to meet its own standards and avoid civilian casualties. UN facilities, especially those sheltering civilians, must be protected,” she said.

The US official, however, also reminded Hamas militants that such shelters “must not be used as bases from which to launch attacks.”

“The US is appalled by Sunday’s disgraceful shelling outside an UNRWA school in Rafah sheltering some 3,000 displaced persons, in which ten more Palestinian civilians were tragically killed,” the State Department said.

The official US statement also rejected the Israeli claim that it was never told the school was sheltering such a large number of displaced people. “The coordinates of the school, like all UN facilities in Gaza, have been repeatedly communicated to the Israeli Defence Forces,” Ms Psaki said.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called the air strike “a moral outrage and a criminal act” and demanded an investigation into “yet another gross violation of inter­national humanitarian law.”

Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2014