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On Wednesday, at least 17 people in a packed Gaza market were killed by Israeli warplanes in a deadly raid which ended a four-hour humanitarian ceasefire, as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon labeled an Israel strike on a school in Gaza that killed 16 as “unjustifiable”.
A crowded market in the neighborhood of Shejaiya was fired upon by Israeli warplanes. According to medics, at least 17 people were killed and 200 people were wounded in the attack. The attack came during a rare pause in the conflict so that the population of Gaza could stock up in safety and medics could help the wounded and evacuate the dead.
Instead, more mayhem ensued as over 30 people were killed in Gaza in the first three hours after the ceasefire, sending the death toll due to the unrelenting Israeli aggression over 1,300.
Israel said that the truce, which had began at 1200 GMT, would not be in places were soldiers were “currently operating”, only hours after the Israeli army had made a “significant advance” into the Palestinian enclave.
Hamas has denounced the four-hour period of peace as a publicity stunt, and said that it had “no value”.
The airstrikes came only hours after Israeli tank-fire on a school sheltering homeless people killed 16.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon condemned the attack, calling it “unjustifiable”, and called out those responsible for the strike.
“This morning a U.N. school sheltering thousands of Palestinian families suffered a reprehensible attack.It is unjustifiable, and demands accountability and justice”, he said during a trip to Costa Rica.
He also accused the Israeli army of ignoring repeated communications regarding the school’s location.
“I want to make it clear that the exact location of this elementary school has been communicated to the Israeli military authorities 17 times, as recently as last night, just a few hours before this attack.They are aware of the coordinates and exact location of where these people are”, he said.
