UN Secretary General Accuses Israel of 'Attacking Sleeping Children'

UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon spoke Wednesday at a summit in Costa Rica where he placed blame on Israel for an attack at a UN school in Gaza.

Not once mentioning Hamas in his speech, Ban said:

This morning, yet another United Nations school sheltering thousands of Palestinian families suffered a reprehensible attack. All available evidence points to Israeli artillery as the cause.

Nothing is more shameful than attacking sleeping children. At least 16 civilians are dead, and many more are injured. I want to make it clear that the precise location of this Jabalia Elementary Girls School had been communicated to the Israeli military authorities 17 times – as recently ‎as last night, just a few hours before the attack. They were ‎aware of the coordinates and exact locations where these people are being sheltered.

The UN Secretary-General continued:

Families had been instructed to seek sanctuary at UN sites, including the one repeatedly shelled today.

I condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms. It is outrageous. It is unjustifiable. And it demands accountability and justice.

I repeat again my call on Israel and all parties to do vastly more to ensure the safety of these United Nations sites and the security of the women, children and families who have sought protection there.

I call on the parties to stop the fighting and agree on an immediate, unconditional ceasefire.

Earlier Wednesday, three IDF soldiers were killed after finding a UN health clinic in Gaza rigged with explosives. The booby-trapped building detonated shortly thereafter, killing the remaining soldiers inside when the building collapsed onto them.

On three separate occasions, rocket arsenals have been found at UN facilities in Gaza during Operation Protective Edge. The UN has yet to place blame on any actors or organizations for the findings, although most conclude Hamas is the likely perpetrator of the war crime. UN officials reacted by likely handing off the multiple rocket caches to Hamas authorities.

The United Nations had also immediately placed blamed on Israel for a strike on Gaza’s Shifa hospital, resulting in the deaths of over a dozen Palestinians. It was later revealed that in all likelihood, a misfired Hamas Fajr-5 Iranian-made 100kg warhead that was destined for Israel had struck the hospital.