CRI听力:UN Condemns Israeli Attack on School in Gaza

The United Nations is once again lashing out at Israel following the deaths of 16 people following an attack on a UN school in Gaza. 

The United Nations is describing the shelling of the U.N. school, which has been sheltering over 3-thousand people from Gaza, as a "violation of international law" by the Israeli army.

The UN says it advised the Israeli military about the precise location of the facility 17 times, with the last notification coming just hours before the fatal shelling.

The Israeli military is accusing Hamas of using the UN schools in Gaza as shelters for its fighters.

However, the United Nations is disputing the claim.

UN deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson.

"No school that has been sheltering people or has been under the UN's control has there been weapons found in while under the UN's control, so again there is no excuse to say there are weapons in these schools when they are being used as shelters or under the UN's control." 

Israeli military spokeperson Peter Lerner says the incident is being reviewed.

"The IDF doesn't target U.N. premises. Over the course of the night and in the early hours of the morning, there was mortar fire that was launched from adjacent, right near that school, the IDF did respond and we are currently reviewing the tragic outcome of this event."

Meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has declared Gaza a disaster area.

At the same time, Abbas is calling on the United Nations to issue the same declaration.

He's also calling on UN agencies and international aid organizations to provide people in Gaza with emergency assistance.

The over 3-week offensive by the Israeli military into Gaza has left over 13-hundred people dead, the vast majority of whom are Palestinian civilians.