07 January,2009 09:07 AM IST | | AFP
UN chief Ban Ki-moon said he was "deeply dismayed" by Israeli military strikes on three UN-run schools in the Gaza Strip that claimed dozens of lives and called them "totally unacceptable."
"These attacks by military forces which endanger UN facilities acting as places of refuge are totally unacceptable and must not be repeated," he said in a statement.
"After earlier strikes, the Israeli government was warned that its operations were endangering UN compounds," Ban noted. "I am deeply dismayed that despite these repeated efforts, today's tragedies have ensued."
Tuesday's third Israeli attack killed 43 people who had sought shelter in a UN-run building at the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza, according to medics.
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"Today's events underscore the dangers inherent in the continuation and escalation of this conflict," the UN secretary-general said.
"I call once again for an immediate ceasefire." Earlier yesterday, the United Nations demanded an investigation into the deadly strikes near UN-run schools and into other civilian deaths in the Israeli onslaught on the Hamas-run Palestinian enclave.
"These tragic incidents need to be investigated, and if international humanitarian law has been contravened, those responsible must be held accountable," said Maxwell Gaylard, UN humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories.
But Israel said yesterday that an initial army probe showed mortar fire may have come from a UN-run school in Gaza where dozens of people were killed in an Israeli strike.
