'We have reached breaking point': UN official breaks down on air as the bloody horror of the Gaza conflict take an obvious emotional toll



Christopher Gunness's interview with Al Jazeera had to be cut short

He began sobbing while talking about an attack on Gaza school in Gaza



Victims had all fled their homes after being told to leave by Israeli forces

UN officials say they told the Israelis 17 times that the school was a shelter

Around 20 men, women and children were killed at the refuge camp school







A hardened United Nations official accustomed to working amidst the devastation of war broke down live on air on Wednesday as the bloody horror of the Gaza conflict took its toll.



The heartbreaking moment war zone veteran Christopher Gunness collapsed into uncontrollable tears came after an Israeli attack on a school based inside a refuge camp in North Gaza.



Around 20 men, women and children were killed and more than 100 civilians were injured.

An Al Jazeera interview with Mr Gunness was cut short as he became visibly distressed.



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UN official Christopher Gunness broke down during an interview with Al Jazeera on Wednesday

Mr Gunness is the senior director for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. The war veteran lost his composure as he said 'the rights of Palestinians and even their children are denied and it's appalling'



He attempted to clear his throat and took a deep breath to try and regain his composure but soon began sobbing out loud.



He managed to utter the words 'my pleasure' before a colleague rushed over to comfort him.



The camera panned away from him as he wailed and the colleague tried to reassure him 'it's OK'.

The victims of the Jabalia Elementary Girls School attack in the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza, who had fled their homes after warnings from Israel's military and were sheltering in the school, were killed on Wednesday morning when two classrooms were destroyed.



Mr Gunness, the senior director for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, told Aljezeera 'the rights of Palestinians and even their children are denied and it's appalling'.



One of the many Palestinian children who were wounded in the shelling of the school in a UN compound is seen here being treated at a nearby hospital

'Where will it end?': The UN official explained after his emotional interview that his staff are being killed

The interview was cut short as Mr Gunness became visibly distressed. A colleague rushed over to comfort him

UN officials said they had told the Israeli military 17 times that the school in Gaza's biggest refugee camp was a shelter for Palestinian civilians fleeing fighting in the coastal strip.

After his emotional interview Mr Gunness pleaded for the violence to stop on Twitter.

'UNRWA is overwhelmed in #Gaza we have reached breaking point, our staff are being killed our shelters overflowing. Where will it end? RT, ' he wrote.



The United States has joined the United Nations in condemning Israel after tank shells tore apart the school



Palestinians search for victims in a classroom at Abu Hussein U.N. school in Jebaliya refugee camp, northern Gaza, after tank shells tore it apart killing 15 men, women and children and injuring more than 100

A Palestinian child stands in a classroom at the school which was crowded with refugees when it was hit

The refugee camp was hit by a series of Israeli artillery shells on Wednesday

Palestinian mourners carry the body of a victim who was killed in the Israeli strike at the Abu Hussein school

Suffering: A boy injured in an Israeli airstrike clings to his father as he is treated at a hospital in Gaza yesterday

Last night, in a rare criticism of Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip, the White House said it was ‘extremely concerned’ that thousands of Palestinians were not safe even in UN-designated shelters.

Spokesman Bernadette Meehan said: ‘This violence underscores the need to achieve a ceasefire as soon as possible.’

Later on Wednesday, 15 Palestinians were killed and 160 wounded in an Israeli air strike which blew apart a busy market in Shejaiya.

The air strike happened during a four-hour ceasefire, which Israel later claimed applied only to areas where its soldiers were not already operating.

Speaking about the warnings that the school was being used as a shelter, Pierre Krahenbuhl, head of the United Nations Relief And Works Agency (UNRWA), said the last notification was given just hours before the pre-dawn attack.

‘I condemn in the strongest possible terms this serious violation of international law by Israeli forces,’ he said last night.

A child who was wounded in the shelling of the school in a UN compound is treated at a nearby hospital

A man mourns his relative who was killed in the shelling of a UN-run school in the north of the Gaza Strip

The victims, who had fled their homes after warnings from Israel’s military and were sheltering in the school, were killed when two classrooms were destroyed by five Israeli tanks shells

The front wall of the classroom was blown out, leaving debris and bloodied clothing all over the floor

Israel claimed that mortar shells had been fired from near the school, and that its soldiers fired back.

‘Five Israeli tank shells struck the people and killed many of them as they slept,’ added Khalil al-Halabi, director of UNRWA’s northern Gaza operations.

‘Those people came to the school because it is a designated UN shelter.’

Assad Sabah said he and his five children were huddling under desks in one of the classrooms because of the constant sound of tank fire throughout the night. ‘We were scared to death,’ he said.

‘After 4.30am, tanks started firing more. Three explosions shook the school. One classroom collapsed over the head of the people who were inside.’

The front wall of the classroom was blown out, leaving debris and bloodied clothing. Another strike tore a large hole in the ceiling of a second-floor classroom.

At the edge of the schoolyard, some 20 donkeys lay dead, still tied to railings.

A man collects the remains of the bodies of the victims who had sought shelter in the UN-run school

The attack came after UN officials allegedly told the Israeli military 17 times that the school in Gaza’s biggest refugee camp was a shelter for Palestinian civilians fleeing ongoing fighting in the coastal strip

A Palestinian child waves to a friend from inside a damaged classroom at the Jebaliya refugee camp

Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon has described Wednesday's attack as 'outrageous' and 'unjustifiable'

A group of people look in at the devastation wrought by the Israeli tank shells that struck the school yesterday

Abdel-Karim al-Masamha, 27, said he and his family had gone to the school after fleeing fighting near their home in the northern Gaza Strip.

‘We did not find safety here,’ he said. ‘People were dismembered.’

Yesterday the UK announced it was stepping up its humanitarian response to the Gaza crisis with an additional £3million for the World Food Programme’s emergency appeal to help deal with food shortages.

The money will provide emergency food for more than 300,000 people for one month and brings to £10million the amount released to help Gaza since the crisis began.

International Development Secretary Justine Greening said: ‘After more than three weeks, the death toll in Gaza is rising and more than 200,000 people, many of them children, have been displaced from their homes. We urgently need to stop the bloodshed.’

Israel said no UN facility had been intentionally targeted, but troops had responded to Hamas mortar fire nearby

Palestinians gather at the Abu Hussein U.N. school, in the Jebaliya refugee camp, to survey the damage

Palestinian children lay on the floor of the school where 3,300 Gazans were seeking shelter when it was hit

The school was hit by a series of Israeli artillery shells Wednesday. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)

One young boy ate a snack while he sheltered at the refugee camp from the ongoing fighting on Gaza strip

A girl who lost five members of her family in the attack weeps outside the hospital

Last week, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed alarm at the discovery of rockets at schools used by UNRWA.

The bombardment in Gaza continued on Wednesday with Israeli air strikes and shelling killing 40 Palestinians elsewhere in the coastal territory.