Israel Calls 4-Hour Ceasefire as 15 Die in School

Israeli shelling injures 90 refugees
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 30, 2014 3:57 AM CDT
Updated Jul 30, 2014 7:48 AM CDT
15 Killed in Strike on UN Gaza School
Palestinians collect body parts in a classroom at the Abu Hussein UN school in Jebaliya refugee camp today.   (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Israel called a four-hour "humanitarian window" beginning this morning at 8am Eastern, just hours after tank shells slammed into a crowded UN school sheltering Gaza war refugees, killing 15 Palestinians and wounding 90, a health official and a spokesman for a UN aid agency say. The ceasefire comes with the caveat, as per CNN, that it won't apply to areas in which IDF forces are already working. Hamas did not immediately comment, and it's not clear if the truce is holding. The strike in the Jebaliya refugee camp came amid Israel's heaviest air and artillery assault in more than three weeks of fighting. Yesterday marked the deadliest day so far, with 128 Palestinians killed, according to a Gaza health official.

The overall Palestinian death toll rose to at least 1,258, with more than 7,100 wounded, the health official says, while Israel has lost 53 soldiers and three civilians. After shelling hit the UN school, a UN agency spokesman said it was time for the international community to step in. "It's the responsibility of the world to tell us what we shall do with more than 200,000 people who are inside our schools, thinking that the UN flag will protect them," he said. "This incident today proves that no place is safe in Gaza." (More Israel stories.)

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