Gaza crisis: US condemns fatal attack on UN school, says culprit unknown – as it happened

As the conflict in Gaza enters its 23rd day and the death toll mounts, reports of antisemitism are growing across Europe. My colleague Philip Oltermann reports from Berlin:

The president of the Council of Jews in Germany has expressed grave concerns about a recent rise in antisemitic attacks in Germany. “What we are currently experiencing is the most sorrowful and menacing situation since 1945,” Charlotte Knobloch told Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger newspaper, advising Jews in Germany not to draw attention to their faith in public.

“Our phones are ringing off the hook and our inboxes are brimming with emails – we are confronted with abuse and hateful slogans,” said the 81-year-old Holocaust survivor.

In the early hours of Tuesday, a synagogue was attacked with Molotov cocktails in Wuppertal, west Germany. An 18-year-old suspect, who described himself as a Palestinian, was arrested near the synagogue later in the day. In Frankfurt am Main, meanwhile, a rabbi confirmed that he had received death threats over the phone, with an anonymous caller telling him last Friday that he would kill 30 Jews in the city if his family in Gaza were harmed.

There has also been a series of protest against the rise in antisemitic attacks. In Wuppertal, around a hundred people gathered outside the synagogue in the wake of the attack, while 800 people in Munich on Tuesday marched to express their solidarity with Israel. Tabloid Bild last Friday ran a front page on which a number of prominent public figures spoke out against antisemitism, under the headline: “Raise your voice: No more hatred against Jews.”

Sky News are reporting that British prime minister David Cameron has announced £3m in additional aid for Gaza.

More from my colleague Harriet Sherwood ahead of diplomatic talks to be held in Cairo today:

Diplomatic attention was focussed on Cairo, where a Palestinian delegation including President Mahmoud Abbas and representatives of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the main militant factions in Gaza, was due to take part in ceasefire talks. A key issue was whether the Gaza-based factions and their armed wings accepted the authority of the delegation.

The Israeli security cabinet was also due to meet on Wednesday afternoon and would consider any progress made in Cairo. Israel’s political and military leaders face crucial decisions on whether to press deeper into Gaza once the cross-border tunnels have been located and destroyed, or whether to accept a “quiet for quiet” deal. “The next 24-72 hours will be critical,” said a diplomatic source.

Palestine Foundation, have stated on Twitter that Israel have hit a UNRWA vehicle:“Today Israel targeted a UNRWA vehicle. Professor Bashir al-Hajjar, 3 PhDs, and his brother Samir were killed in it.” This is not confirmed by UNRWA.

My colleague Harriet Sherwood has just received a call from the Israeli Defence Force, who state that Hamas fighters were firing shells near the UN girls’ school hit this morning. Harriet reports:

A spokeswoman from the IDF just called me to say that its initial inquiries showed that “Hamas militants fired mortar shells from the vicinity of the school, and [Israeli] soldiers responded by firing towards the origins of the fire”. An investigation was continuing, she added.

Sky News reporter Sherine Tadros has tweeted that seven members of one family and 10 members of another have been killed in strikes at 1pm in Gaza today.

Pierre Krähenbühl, Commissioner-General of The United Nations Relief and Works Agency has strongly condemned the Israeli strike on a UN girls’ school today, saying that men, women and children were killed “as they slept in place where they should have been safe and protected”.

In a separate interview with Sky News Hammond admitted that an end to the bloodshed in Gaza did not appear close, but said the UK was involved in work behind the scenes on an Egyptian peace plan.

Asked if the international community was any closer to brokering a ceasefire, Hammond said:

I’m afraid we are not, if people are insisting on preconditions.

What we are saying to both sides, what the United Nations are saying to both sides, what the whole international community is saying to both sides, is that the humanitarian necessity must come first. We must stop the bloodshed now by an unconditional ceasefire by both sides.

We then recognise that there is a need to move immediately to talks about the stack of issues that are underlying this conflict - the way in which Gaza has been blockaded, the conditions in which the people of Gaza are living, the threats to Israel’s security from Hamas, rocket attacks and tunnel attacks from Gaza.

All of these things absolutely do need to be discussed. But first we have got to stop the killing.

Hammond expressed the hope that talks could move the situation towards a cease fire, as public outrage grew:

Behind the scenes there are a lot of people doing a lot of work talking to both sides trying to get a practical focus on stopping the bloodshed. And then a rapid move to substantive discussions about future conditions of Gaza.

The Egyptians have a proposal on the table for a three-stage process. Everybody is behind the Egyptian proposals. The Qataris and the Turks are working very hard to leverage their influence on Hamas. We are talking to all sides in this dispute.

I think what public opinion, not just in the Arab world but across the entire world, wants to see is an immediate ceasefire. And public opinion will not understand why either side refuses to accept an immediate ceasefire in order to end this suffering.