Get your facts straight The 2014 Israeli shelling of UNRWA Gaza shelters were seven shellings at UNRWA facilities in the Gaza Strip which took place between 21 July and 3 August 2014 during the IsraeliGaza conflict . The incidents were the result of artillery , mortar or aerial missile fire which struck on or near the UNRWA facilities being used as shelters for Palestinians , and as a result at least 44 civilians , including 10 UN staff , died . During the 2014 IsraelGaza conflict , many Palestinians fled their homes after warnings by Israel or due to air strikes or fighting in the area . An estimated 290 , 000 people 15 % of Gaza ' s population took shelter in UNRWA schools . On three separate occasions , on 16 July , 22 July and on 29 July , UNRWA announced that rockets had been found in their schools . UNRWA denounced the groups responsible for flagrant violations of the neutrality of its premises . All of these schools were vacant at the time when rockets were discovered no rockets were found in any shelters which were shelled . UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said that both Hamas militants and Israel might have committed war crimes . A Human Rights Watch investigation into three of the incidents concluded that Israel committed war crimes because two of the shellings did not appear to target a military objective or were otherwise indiscriminate , while the third Rafah shelling was unlawfully disproportionate . On April 27 , 2015 , the United Nations released an inquiry which concluded that Israel was responsible for the deaths of at least 44 Palestinians who died in the shelling and 227 were injured