2nd lead
At least 10 people were killed at a United Nations school in Rafah following an Israeli airstrike according to Palestinian officials, as fighting continued in the Gaza strip.
The attack, the second on a UN school this week, also killed at least one UN staffer. Adnan Abu Hasna, a spokesman for the UN Relief and Works Agency in Gaza, said:
"It is believed that there was an air strike that hit outside the gate of an UNRWA school, a designated shelter for at least 3,000 displaced residents."
The Telegraph obtained a video of the aftermath of the strike here.
International condemnation of UNRWA school shelling
The United States condemned the attack as "disgraceful" and added that the coordinates of the school had "been repeatedly communicated to the Israeli Defense Forces".
"The suspicion that militants are operating nearby does not justify strikes that put at risk the lives of so many innocent civilians," the US added in a statement released on Sunday shortly after the attack.
Full statement:
The United States is appalled by today's disgraceful shelling outside an UNRWA school in Rafah sheltering some 3000 displaced persons, in which at least ten more Palestinian civilians were tragically killed. The coordinates of the school, like all UN facilities in Gaza, have been repeatedly communicated to the Israeli Defense Forces. We once gain stress that Israel must do more to meet its own standards and avoid civilian casualties. UN facilities, especially those sheltering civilians, must be protected, and must not be used as bases from which to launch attacks. The suspicion that militants are operating nearby does not justify strikes that put at risk the lives of so many innocent civilians. We call for a full and prompt investigation of this incident as well as the recent shelling of other UNRWA schools.
We continue to underscore that all parties must take all feasible precautions to prevent civilian casualties and protect the civilian population and comply with international humanitarian law.
The UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said the attack was "a moral outrage and a criminal act", AFP reports.
"This madness must stop," he added.
Describing the attack as "unacceptable", the French president Francois Hollande said "those responsible for this violation of international law answer for their actions."
On Sunday, prior to the shelling, the UK Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond told The Sunday Telegraph that “the situation in Gaza is simply intolerable and must be addressed”, adding,
"There must be a humanitarian ceasefire that is without conditions. We have to get the killing to stop."
See his full interview here.
His comments come as opposition leader Ed Miliband stated the British Prime Minister had failed to send a "clear and unequivocal message", saying,
"The prime minister is wrong not to have opposed Israel's incursion into Gaza. And his silence on the killing of hundreds of innocent Palestinian civilians caused by Israel's military action will be inexplicable to people across Britain and internationally."
See more from the Guardian here.
Israel confirms missing soldier dead
The Israeli military on Sunday confirmed the death of a soldier that it had previously feared was captured by Hamas.
Hadar Goldin’s death brings the Israeli toll to 63 soldiers and three civilians killed in the conflict so far, its highest since the 2006 Lebanon War. Officials in Gaza say that more than 1,650 people have been killed, most of them civilians.
HRW says killing of Palestinian protesters in West Bank 'unlawful'
Human Rights Watch said the killing of a Palestinian protester in the West Bank, who was shot dead by IDF soldiers on July 26, was "unlawful".
“The Israeli military is responsible not only for reckless and deliberate unlawful killings in Gaza, but also for unlawfully killing Palestinian protesters in the West Bank,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch on Sunday.
“Because of the Israeli military’s long history of operating with virtual impunity, more unlawful killings are predictable unless Israel’s allies apply meaningful pressure.”
US Congress approves funding for Israel's Iron Dome
With the fighting continuing, the United States Congress approved a bill granting $US225 million to Israel’s Iron Dome system, which has been intercepting rockets launched from Gaza. The bill, passed before the US lawmakers were due to begin their 5-week break, was voted through by the House of Representatives with 395 in favour and 8 against.