Israel: Palestinians Given Ample Time To Evacuate To Nearby Bombing Sites http://t.co/EBubYDwMBf pic.twitter.com/dH8cl5xRpa

— The Onion (@TheOnion) July 23, 2014

Not enough time was given, it appears, in the case of the UN school, filled with civilian refugees, which was hit today, killing sixteen. The NYT is still saying that the carnage may have been Hamas’ fault. The Guardian reports instead:

The Israeli military first claimed, in a text sent to journalists, that the school could have been hit by Hamas missiles that fell short. Later, a series of tweets from the Israel Defence Forces appeared to confirm the deaths were the result of an Israeli strike. “Today Hamas continued firing from Beit Hanoun. The IDF responded by targeting the source of the fire. Last night, we told Red Cross to evacuate civilians from UNRWA’s shelter in Beit Hanoun btw 10am & 2pm. UNRWA & Red Cross got the message. Hamas prevented civilians from evacuating the area during the window that we gave them.”

An official at the school says they asked for more time to evacuate when the shelling started:

“We spent much of the day trying to negotiate or to coordinate a window so that civilians, including our staff, could leave. That was never granted … and the consequences of that appear to be tragic.” Gunness said the Israeli military were supplied with coordinates of UN schools where those displaced were sheltering. UN sources told the Guardian a call was placed to the Israeli military at 10.55am requesting permission to evacuate but their call was not returned.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu has achieved one of his core aims – to weaken the Palestinian Authority on the West Bank so the project of Greater Israel can proceed with its usual, criminal relentlessness. He’d already done that by rewarding Abbas for his moderation by humiliating him with more and more settlements. Now he has cemented that achievement:

Hamas — which refuses to recognize Israel’s right to exist and is considered a terrorist organization by much of the West — is being hailed in the West Bank as the champion of armed resistance, while Mr. Abbas, who leads the alternative camp advocating a negotiated peace deal with Israel, is being excoriated for having failed to achieve a Palestinian state after 20 years of intermittent and fruitless Israeli-Palestinian talks.

And the mass killing of children – financed by you and me – continues.

Today, we grappled with American “Christian” support for “smashing the skulls” and “breaking the spines” of Hamas; I lamented Hillary Clinton’s constant case of the blah blah blahs; we wondered why denialism of climate change is largely restricted to English-speaking countries; and our cover song contest came up with some new entrants.

The most popular post of the day was The Astonishing Actual History Of The Gay Rights Movement – which is enjoying quite a life in social media; followed by God’s Foreign Policy.

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See you in the morning.