Nasdaq

7th January, 2009

PARIS (AFP)–France Wednesday sharply criticized Israel’s shelling of a U.N.- run school in the Gaza Strip, arguing that the bloodshed underlined the need for a rapid ceasefire.

“We learn with consternation of the shelling of a UNRWA school in Gaza, which killed several dozen civilians, including women and children, who had fled to escape the fighting,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Eric Chevallier said.

Tuesday, Israeli forces battling Palestinian Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip opened fire on a school operated by the U.N. refugee agency, killing at least 42 people.

Israel has accused Hamas fighters of hiding among civilians, but the U.N. said Wednesday their staff were 99% sure that no gunmen were holed up in the school, and demanded an inquiry.

Chevallier said the shelling underlined the need for a ceasefire and said France “demands that international humanitarian law be respected, along with the premises of the U.N. and other international organizations.”