| Al-Fakhura school incident | |
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The damaged school after the attack |
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| Location | Near Al-Fakhura school, Jabaliya refugee camp, Gaza Strip |
| Date | January 6, 2009 |
| Attack type | artillery shells |
| Deaths | 42 (UN)[1] 40 (PMoH)[2] 12 (IDF)[3] |
| Injured | 55 |
| Perpetrator(s) | Israel Defence Forces; Palestinian armed groups |
The al-Fakhura School incident refers to events that took place nearby a United Nations (UN) run school of al-Fakhura located in the Jabaliya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on January 6, 2009 during the Gaza War.[4] In response to alleged militant gunfire coming from beside the school, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) fired upon the targets that the UN and several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) say killed 42, 41 of them civilians, and that according to the IDF killed 9 Hamas militants and 3 noncombatants.[5][6][7][8][9][3] In April 2009, The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) listed 12 people as killed "near" the school and another 8 "opposite" the school.[10] Several people listed as civilians in the PCHR report are claimed by Hamas as its fighters according to Israeli think tank International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT).[11] In the last week of January, the UN explicitly clarified that no deaths occurred within the building itself and that the rounds struck the street outside the school. A "clerical error" in UN reports had previously stated otherwise.[12]
Several news reports initially stated that the attack directly hit the school itself, and that the victims had taken refuge there to escape the fighting between the IDF and Palestinian militants.[5][6][13] The response, before it was learned that the school itself was not attacked, lead to a renewed push for a cease-fire in the Gaza War.[6][7] The attack had created a public outcry and prompted condemnation from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, members of the news media, and international aid agencies.[13] Numerous testimonies from local residents confirmed later that militants fired mortars from a location close to the school compound and that there were no fatalities inside the school.[14][15]
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On January 6, 2009, at least 350 Palestinians were in the al-Fakhura school run by UNRWA, in Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza, seeking refuge from fighting between Israeli and Hamas militants.[4][16] The UNRWA later claimed that as many as 1,300 people were present at the school compound,[17] a New York Times story quoted them at exactly 1,674 people.[18] Most of those present came from northern Gaza near Beit Lahiya and had been ordered to leave there for their own safety by the IDF.[18] Two Israeli tanks fired shells which exploded outside the school, spraying shrapnel on people inside and outside the building.[16][19][20]
According to Hamas, over forty died in the incident. According to the IDF twelve people died, all outside of the school, nine of which were Hamas militants.[21]
Initial reports varied. The Guardian stated that, while the school itself was targeted, the majority of those killed were not in the school itself but had been in the playground and in the nearby street.[19] The Associated Press also stated that the attack occurred "outside" or "near" the school, not on the school itself, and listed 12 or fewer casualties.[22] Other reports stated that over forty people within the actual school were killed in the attack.[5][6] An estimated 55 people were injured.[9] According to The Daily Mail, the nearby hospital was quickly overwhelmed and several injured victims were left in the street.[23]
According to Mouin Gasser, a 45-year-old teacher, the area around the school was hit four times in about two minutes by the shells that landed just outside the school; much shrapnel spread everywhere and hit the people inside the school. Mr Gasser said that he did not see any militants in the area.[24] The Daily Mail quoted an eyewitness stating that he saw the marks from five separate explosions.[23]
Hanan Abu Khajib said that Hamas militants fired just outside the school compound, likely from the secluded courtyard of a house across the street some 25 yards from the school, and that Israeli return fire minutes later landed outside the school along its southwest wall, killing two Hamas fighters.[14] Two unnamed residents, who spoke to an Associated Press reporter by phone on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, said a group of militants had been firing mortar shells rounds from a street close to the school.[25][26] Jonathan Miller wrote in a Channel 4 story that "local residents in the street told me that militants had been firing rockets - as the IDF claimed - and having been targeted in retaliatory fire by the IDF, they ran down the street past the school."[15][27] Residents of the neighborhood said two brothers who were Hamas fighters were in the area at the time of the attack.[28] The Israeli military identified the brothers as Imad Abu Asker and Hassan Abu Asker, and said they had been killed.[28] Residents also said that the mortar fire had not come from the school compound, but from elsewhere in the neighborhood.[28]
Shadi Abu Shanar who worked as a guard at the school was inside the gate of the school when the attack took place: "Suddenly I heard a number of explosions at the gate. I went out onto the street and found dead bodies and wounded people lying on the ground. Most of them were cut into pieces. The street was full of people. I was about to pass out because of what I saw. The shells landed in a range of 20 to 40 meters around the school. The school was full of people."[24]
A UN Board of Inquiry found that there was no firing from within the school and no explosives within the school. The Board could not establish with certainty whether there had been any firing from the vicinity of the school. Four witness statements collected by Defence for Children International-Palestine section indicate that the area was quiet, and that adults and children were going about their daily business.[29]
The IDF originally claimed that Hamas militants were inside the school.[30] The Israeli army stated that Hamas militants were firing mortar shells from the school just moments before the strike[25][31][32] The IDF stated that a number of Hamas gunmen were inside the school, among them Imad and Hassan Abu-Askar, who are known to the IDF as Hamas rocket-launching operatives,[25][33] and claimed to have found their bodies following the attack.[31] Israeli defense officials told The Associated Press that booby-trapped bombs in the school had triggered secondary explosions that killed additional Palestinians there.[26] The IDF has released footage of militants launching rockets from a UNRWA school in a different incident in 2007 to support its account.[34] Israeli army Spokeswoman Avital Leibovich claimed that a mortar had been fired from the school, and that Israeli forces responded with one mortar shell. She stated, "Let me be clear–I am not apologizing," in relation to the bombing of the school.[35]
Yigal Palmer Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson later clarified that he "know(s) for a fact that a Hamas squad was firing mortar shells from the immediate vicinity of the school... Hamas mortar squad was sticking with their back to the school wall... The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) responded to that fire, and the tragic result was what we all know."[36] Israel has accused Hamas of using civilians as "human shields" by launching rockets from near the school and then fleeing into a crowd.[37][38]
According to Haaretz, a preliminary investigation conducted by the Paratroopers Brigade whose troops were responsible for the area, found that the army's location system to pinpoint launch sites indicated that Hamas militants had launched a Qassam rocket into Israel from within a yard adjacent to the courtyard of the UN building. The troops had intended to launch a smart missile to take out the Palestinian launch team but a technical malfunction made this impossible. The commanders of the force instead decided to fire on the Qassam team with mortar shells equipped with a Global Positioning System for accurate fire. However, the GPS element has an error margin of 30 meters and one of the three rounds fired by the paratrooper force hit the UNRWA building. Two of the rounds hit the yard used to launch rockets into Israel, killing two members of Hamas' military wing who probably belonged to the squad that fired the rockets. According to Haaretz, some IDF officers say the force should have refrained from using mortar rounds and relied instead on more accurate fire. Haaretz quotes senior IDF officers saying that the death toll published by Hamas is "grossly exaggerated", and that Hamas is inflating the number of casualties.[39][40]
On February 15, 2009, The Jerusalem Post published the IDF account of the Palestinian fatalities in the incident. According to the IDF Gaza Coordination and Liaison Administration (CLA), 12 Palestinians were killed in the incident - 9 Hamas operatives and 3 noncombatants. The CLA also stated that the IDF was returning fire after coming under attack, that its shells did not hit the school compound, and that this has been acknowledged by the UN. Colonel Moshe Levi, head of the CLA said that: "From the beginning, Hamas claimed that 42 people were killed, but we could see from our surveillance that only a few stretchers were brought in to evacuate people".[21] The Jerusalem Post from February 29, 2009 quotes CLA officials stating that on the day of the incident officers from the CLA contacted the Palestinian Health Ministry and were told that 3 Palestinian civilians had been killed and that Hamas was hiding the identities of the remaining casualties. [3]
On April 22, 2009, the IDF publicly announced the results of its internal investigation on Operation Cast Lead. The report found that Hamas had fired mortar shells at a position 80 meters from the school and that the IDF used "minimal and proportionate retaliatory fire" afterward. It also concluded that the IDF "did not, at any time, fire with the deliberate intention to hit a UN vehicle or facility" at any point in the conflict.[41]
Fauzi Barhoun, a Hamas spokesman, said initial allegations that Hamas militants had used the school to attack Israeli forces were "baseless".[25]
The reactions of local residents varied. Abdel Minaim Hasan who lost his eldest daughter, Lina, 11, was weeping by her body which was wrapped in a Hamas flag in the immediate aftermath of the attack. The New York Times reported that he cried out: "From now on I am Hamas! ... I choose resistance!" He also cursed at the Arab nations for ignoring the plight of the Gazans, shouting, "The Arabs are doing nothing to protect us!"[28] Huda Deed who lost nine members of her extended family, ages 3 to 25, was also weeping and standing before the bodies of the dead remarked, "Look, they’ve lined them up like a ruler!" When asked for an interview by Al-Aqsa TV, the Hamas channel, she refused.[28] Mushir al-Masri, a senior Hamas official who emerged from hiding to attend the funeral, commended the dead and called them martyrs. According to the New York Times, some parents greeted him by shaking his hand while others stared at him coldly.[28]
The UN originally said that the shelling took place outside the school. John Ging, Director of UNRWA operations in Gaza was quoted by The Guardian as saying that three shells had landed "at the perimeter of the school".[42] Another branch of the UN, its humanitarian affairs agency (OCHA) also reported in its daily output of 6 January that the missile strikes had been outside the school.[43] In its report of the following day, however, it said the school itself had been shelled.[44] Three weeks later, this error was corrected by Maxwell Gaylord, the UN humanitarian coordinator, who stated that the UN "would like to clarify that the shelling, and all of the fatalities, took place outside rather than inside the school.[45] As a result, several news agencies claimed that the UN had backtracked from its original claim that the strike had hit the school[46] Abraham Rabinovich of The Australian also criticized John Ging and other UN officials claiming they did not "dispel widespread suspicions" and that one of Ging's statement implied the school was hit directly.[47] Christopher Gunness, an UNRWA spokesman, called Rabinovich's article "grossly misleading" and " inaccurate". He pointed out that Ging's statement, which formed the basis for Rabinovitch's argument, was actually in regards to the confirmed attack on another school in which three people were killed, and was made before the Al-Fakhura school incident occurred. The organization also argued that they initially reported that the attack happened outside of Al-Fakhura while Israelis authorities reported that they were firing back at militants in the school, and then later reported that they were responding to militants near the school rather in the school itself.[48]
Israeli Government report published in July 2009 state that the UN Board of Inquiry did not examine whether laws of armed conflict were violated in this incident. The report quotes the findings of the Board:[49]
[the Board was] unable to reach any conclusion whether or not mortars were being fired and directed against the IDF from near to the school...[the Board] was not in a position to assess whether [more precise] means of response was available to the IDF at the time and, if it was not, the length and consequences of any delay until it might have become available.
The UNHRC fact-finding mission in its report from September 2009 criticized IDF for the choice of the weapons for the supposed counterstrike and concluded that the IDF fire at the Al-Fakhura street violated the law of proportionality.[50] Researcher from JCPA stated that examination of freely accessible Palestinian sources shows that one of the key witnesses of the fact-finding committee on the incident was directly linked to the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades and that contrary to the claims, there were Palestinian operatives in the Al-Fakhura school area. He also stressed that at least 6 militants were killed in the incident.[51] On the contrary, Hamas officials stated that among 35 people supposedly killed in the incident, no fighters were registered among the casualties.[52]
In the initial response to the UNHRC fact-finding mission report, Israeli Government replied that the committee findings reflect the oversimplistic approach to complex military challenges during the fighting, implying that the mission members did not possess the information that was known to the force's commander at the time of the attack regarding the immediate threat, weapon's availability and potential risks to civilians.[53]
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