Israel responsible for Gaza strikes on UN schools and shelters, inquiry finds

Israel was directly responsible for the targeting of seven UN premises used as civilian shelters during the 2014 Gaza war, an inquiry ordered by secretary general Ban Ki-moon has concluded.

Related: Gaza crisis: a closer look at Israeli strikes on UNRWA schools

Releasing the report on Monday Ban condemned the attacks – in which some 44 Palestinians died and 227 others were injured – “as a matter of the utmost gravity” and said “those who looked to them for protection and who sought and were granted shelter there had their hopes and trust denied.”

Ban insisted that UN locations were “inviolable”.

Ban ordered the inquiry in November after thousands of buildings were destroyed and at least 223 Gaza schools, either run by the UN refugee agency or the Islamic militant group Hamas government, were hit in the fighting.

Gaza: nothing more shameful than attacking sleeping children, says Ban Ki-moon. Link to video

Israeli diplomats had exerted pressure on the UN to delay publication of the report until the completion of Israel’s own investigations of the attacks – conducted by the Israeli military advocate general Danny Efroni.

The inquiry, which examined both forensic evidence and testimonies of UN staff in Gaza during the 50-day war last summer, concluded all seven incidents were attributable to the Israel Defence Forces.

Ban added: “I will work with all concerned and spare no effort to ensure that such incidents will never be repeated.”

In his letter Ban also said that Palestinian militant groups had put UN schools in Gaza at risk by hiding weapons in three locations that were not being used as shelters.
“The fact that they were used by those involved in the fighting to store their weaponry and, in two cases, probably to fire from is unacceptable,” Ban said.

The attacks on UN schools being used as shelters were among some of the most controversial incidents of the war as UN premises were on a list of sensitive, protected sites.

Related: 'The world stands disgraced' - Israeli shelling of school kills at least 15

In one of the most serious incidents, the UNRWA school in Jabaliya was struck by Israeli fire, killing 20 people and wounding dozens.

In the aftermath of the attack Israel claimed – including in a report into the incident – that soldiers near the school were had come under fire.

In another incident that hit a UN school in Beit Hanoun in which 15 Palestinians were killed in the playground as they awaited evacuation and dozens more injured. Israeli officials had originally tried to suggested that the attack had been due to a Hamas munitions falling short.

The UN inquiry – separate form an inquiry launched by the UN Human Rights Council – was headed by retired general Patrick Cammaert, a former officer in the Dutch military and included military and legal experts.

More than 2,100 Palestinians, most of them civilians, were killed during the Gaza conflict last July and August. Sixty-seven Israeli soldiers and six civilians in Israel were killed by rockets and attacks by Hamas and other militant groups.

The details of the contents of the 207-page board of inquiry are confidential and only Ban’s covering letter has been made public. Conceding that the report was of “considerable interest” he said he had taken the decision to release a summary of the inquiry’s findings.

The report was compiled from analysis of weapons, medical reports, photographs and video footage, and submissions and testimonies both by UN staff and other organisations.

Ban thanked Israel for its cooperation in preparing the report and allowing investigators to access Gaza.

Ban wrote: “I deplore the fact that at least 44 Palestinians were killed as a result of Israeli actions and at least 227 injured at United Nations premises being used as emergency shelters. United Nations premises are inviolable and should be places of safety, particularly in a situations of armed conflict.”

He added: “I note this is the second time during my tenure as secretary general that I have been obliged to establish a board of inquiry into incidents involving United Nations premises and personnel in Gaza that have occurred during the course of tragic conflicts in the Gaza Strip.

“Once again I must stress my profound and continuing concern for the civilian population of the Gaza Strip and Israel, and their right to live in peace and security, free from the threat of violence and terrorism.”

When Ban visited Gaza in October, he said the destruction was “beyond description” and “much more serious” than what he witnessed in the Palestinian territory in 2009 in the aftermath of a previous Israel-Hamas war.

Ban said Monday he has established a group of senior managers to look into the inquiry’s recommendations.

In a statement, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said: “All of the incidents attributed by the report to Israel have already been subject to thorough examinations, and criminal investigations have been launched where relevant. ... Israel makes every effort to avoid harm to sensitive sites.”

Nahshon’s statement added: “The executive summary of the report clearly documents the exploitation by terrorist organisations of UN facilities in the Gaza Strip.”

A number of questions remain unaddressed in the summary, not least the issue of what communications there were between UN staff and the Israeli military in particular ahead of the attack on the school in Beit Hanoun when UN staff are understood to have communicated to Israeli forces their intention to bus out civilians who were waiting for evacuation at the time of the attack.

Also unaddressed is why Israeli forces fired on designated protected locations outside of the principle of immediate self-defence when they were aware of concentrations of civilians sheltering there.