UN official Christopher Gunness breaks down on live TV following attack on Gaza school Israels artillery shells rained down on a UN school in a refugee camp sheltering evacuees, killing children as they slept next to their parents on the floor, the unsurmountable horror of the situation suddenly overwhelmed him. Mr Gunness, a senior director for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, broke down sobbing during a live television interview with Al-Jazeera, as he described how shells had struck the Jabalia Elementary Girls School in the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza, killing about 20 people and wounding at least 100. The shelling came despite 17 warnings about the position of the shelter to the Israel Defence Force (IDF) to ensure it would be spared, Mr Gunness, from Britain, claimed. The rights of Palestinians, even their children, are wholesale denied, and its appalling, Mr Gunness said during the interview, barely keeping his composure. As the interviewer thanked him for his time, Mr Gunness coughed, rapidly blinked, and his chin quivered. He managed to say My pleasure, before putting his hands over his face and completely breaking down in tears at his desk. Another person then emerged from behind the camera to comfort Mr Gunness, before the camera panned away. Its OK, the person could be heard saying, trying to console him. Mr Gunness, a former BBC reporter who has also worked as a spokesman for the UN in the former Yugoslavia, has given many interviews during the latest conflict, and has managed to keep his composure until now. He later tweeted that he and his organisation had reached breaking point. Witnesses and UN officials said Wednesdays attack was the latest in a series of strikes on UN facilities that are supposed to be safe zones in the 24-day-old battle between Israel and Hamas and other militants. More than 3300 Palestinian families were sheltering in the school after fleeing military operations in Gaza. During the assault on the school, one shell blew out the front wall of a classroom, another tore a large hole in the ceiling of a second-floor classroom across the courtyard, and another hit a small building near the school gates. Bloodied pillows and blankets were scattered over the school’s courtyard, while four donkeys lay dead at the schools gate. Reuters reported that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the attack as outrageous and unjustifiable. It demands accountability and justice, he said. Nothing is more shameful than attacking sleeping children. source: smh.au
Posted on: Thu, 31 Jul 2014 00:38:48 +0000
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