“Israeli actions” killed at least 44 Palestinians, and injured 227 others, who were sheltering at seven UN schools in Gaza during last summer’s war, a UN inquiry has found.

The inquiry also found that Palestinian militants had been using three empty UN schools to store weapons, and “probably” fired from two of the schools, the BBC reports.

UN Secretary Ban Ki Moon said in a statement today that the schools, like all UN facilities, were “inviolable”.

"It is a matter of the utmost gravity that those who looked to them for protection and who sought and were granted shelter there had their hopes and trust denied," he said.

Mr Ban said the storing of weapons in schools, and use of schools as a base for firing weapons, was “unacceptable.”

The inquiry examined 10 incidents during the conflict at schools run by the UN agency, UNRWA, for refugees.

The conflict killed over 2,200 Palestinians, and 72 Israelis.