UN Report Accuses Israel of Intentionally Striking UN-Run School in Gaza

A UN board conducted a non-binding inquiry, concluding that Israel had intentionally struck a UN-run elementary school, killing three young men seeking shelter from the fighting.

The incident was one of eight in which the Israel Defense Forces fired on U.N. personnel or facilities that drew scrutiny from a three-member U.N. board of inquiry. The board found that Israel had repeatedly breached the inviolability of U.N. premises and that, in attacking another elementary school, it exhibited "reckless disregard for the lives and safety" of civilians. Two children were killed and 13 others injured in that attack.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he planned to press for compensation for the damage to U.N. property, which amounted to more than $11 million. But he rejected the board's recommendation to expand the investigation into Palestinian and Israeli excesses during the conflict and to hold perpetrators accountable for their crimes.

"I would emphasize that a board of inquiry is not a judicial body or court of law," said Ban, who released a 27-page summary of the 184-page report. "It does not make legal findings and does not consider questions of legal liability."

An Israeli spokeswoman, Mirit Cohen, welcomed Ban's assurances that the matter was largely closed. But she accused the U.N. board of producing a "tendentious, patently biased" report, pointing to a recent Israeli military inquiry into the incidents as demonstrating that Israel had not targeted the United Nations. "The findings of these inquiries were published two weeks ago and proved beyond doubt that the IDF did not intentionally fire at the U.N. installations," she said.