Reporter Patrick Martin of the Globe & Mail investigates the shelling of Palestinian gunmen near a UN school that led to the tragic death of 43 civilians. His conclusion? The facts don't support the accepted story that the school itself was shelled:
Physical evidence and interviews with several eyewitnesses, including a teacher who was in the schoolyard at the time of the shelling, make it clear: While a few people were injured from shrapnel landing inside the white-and-blue-walled UNRWA compound, no one in the compound was killed. The 43 people who died in the incident were all outside, on the street, where all three mortar shells landed.
Stories of one or more shells landing inside the schoolyard were inaccurate.
While the killing of 43 civilians on the street may itself be grounds for investigation, it falls short of the act of shooting into a schoolyard crowded with refuge-seekers.
The lies and misconceptions were anticipated; but coverage in the BBC, Der Spiegel, and The Age show the truth about Gaza and the gunmen operating among civilians is getting out.
