Israeli tank shells kill 15 at U.N. school

Israeli tank shells killed 15 people at a U.N. school in the Jebaliya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip Wednesday morning.

An additional 90 people were wounded in the attack, the Associated Press reports. In addition to the school strike, Israeli airstrikes and tank shelling killed an additional 40 Palestinians on Wednesday. The AP reports that Israeli forces struck "dozens of Gaza sites" Wednesday, including five mosques that Israel claimed were in use by militants.

According to the AP, Israel's military claimed it opened fire at the school after its soldiers were "targeted by mortars operating from the vicinity of the school."

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U.N. spokesperson Abu Hasna told the AP that other nations should intervene in the crisis. "It's the responsibility of the world to tell us what we shall do with more than 200,000 people who are inside our schools, thinking that the U.N. flag will protect them," Hasna told the AP. "This incident today proves that no place is safe in Gaza."

Since the fighting began on July 8, 1,284 Palestinians have been killed, and more than 7,100 more Palestinians have been wounded. Fifty-three Israeli soldiers and three civilians have also been killed.

Update: The AP has updated its report to include the fact that later on Wednesday, the military declared a cease-fire for four hours, starting at 3:00 p.m. Wednesday. However, Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zurhi told the AP that the cease-fire was meaningless, as it "excluded border areas from where Hamas wanted to evacuate the wounded."