FORTY-TWO women and children were killed yesterday when an Israeli tank blasted a school in Gaza where hundreds were seeking refuge from attack.
Two shells exploded outside the United Nations Fakhoura School in the Jabalya refugee camp near Gaza City, where 350 people had taken cover in squalid conditions from the advancing battlefront.
The explosions blasted shards of jagged shrapnel towards people inside and outside the building.
Speaking shortly afterwards, US President-elect Barack Obama said: “The loss of civilian life in Gaza and Israel is a source of deep concern for me.”
He was commenting for the first time since the conflict began.
But Mr Obama said only US President Bush would speak for American foreign policy at this time. He would have more to say after his January 20 inauguration.
Last night Al Qaeda said the offensive in Gaza was part of a crusade by the West against Islam and accused President-elect Obama of complicity.
In an internet message the Islamist terror group’s second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahri, said: “What you are facing now ... is a link in a chain in the Zionist crusader campaign on Muslims and Islam. These attacks are Obama’s present to you (Palestinians) before he takes office.”
Yesterday’s blast was the second Israeli strike on a UN-run school in a day. Earlier UN officials said at least three Palestinians died when a school was hit in the Shati camp, north of Gaza City.
In another incident 13 people were killed when Israel bombed an apartment block, which collapsed on families trying to shelter in the lower floors.
“There’s nowhere safe in Gaza. Everyone here is terrorised and traumatised,” said John Ging, the top UN official in Gaza, speaking at its largest hospital.
Israeli ground forces hunted Hamas targets in close-quarter combat around Gaza City, Khan Younis and Rafah. Five Israeli soldiers were killed and 20 wounded.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown called the crisis the “darkest moment yet for the Middle East”.
But he added he was “hopeful” the basis for an immediate ceasefire could be found and called for borders to be opened under international supervision.
