The recent Israeli airstrikes on Gaza school have claimed at least 34 lives, including six United Nations staff members and 19 women and children, with dozens more injured.
Notably, the Israeli airstrike was targeted at a UN school in the Nuseirat refugee camp, a home to nearly 12,000 displaced Palestinians. This was the fifth time Israel has targeted in the last 11 months.
UN calls attack unacceptable
According to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who was one of those housing around the region, the attack ‘totally unacceptable’. In his official X (formerly Twitter), he accused Israel of “dramatic violations of international humanitarian law” over continued attacks on schools-turned shelters in Gaza. He added that strikes need to stop now.
Further, while confirming the loss of at least 220 UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Work Agency) staff members in Gaza since the war has erupted, Philippe Lazzarini— UNRWA Commissioner on his X—wrote, “Endless and senseless killing, day after day.”
“Humanitarian staff, premises, and operations have been blatantly & unabatedly disregarded since the beginning of the war,” he further added.
What UNRWA says on the attack?
The UNRWA also confirmed this Israeli airstrike as the deadliest one after the Oct 7th, 2023 attack on Israel, “No one is safe in Gaza,” the agency wrote on X. “No one is spared”.
The agency also claimed that among those killed was the manager of the UNRWA shelter and other team members assisting displaced people.
What IDF responds?
Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) defended its strike, saying that the airstrikes attacked a Hamas command and control center in the area. The IDF on Thursday wrote on social media that out of the claimed lives, nine of those killed were Hamas operatives. Two of those killed, participated in Hamas’s attack on Israel on the Oct 7th, 2023 attack.
The Israeli military further claimed that these measures are being taken to reduce the harm to civilians and stated that at least a third of the Palestinian fatalities in Gaza are militants.
UNRWA claims 5th largest attack since Oct 7th 2023
Additionally, the United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA) stated that since the interception of the war, the al-Jaouni Preparatory Boys School refugee camp in Nuseirat has been targeted five times and confirmed that the camp mainly shelters women and children. This attack on the UN school is part of a larger pattern. The daughter of Momin Selmi, a civil defense agency in Gaza was also killed among the youngsters. The organization detained several bodies and rescued several injured people.
What Gaza faces amid the war
According to a survey conducted in July by the Education Cluster—a coalition of humanitarian organizations headed by UNICEF and Save the Children—more than half of the schools in Gaza that are currently housing displaced people have been targeted. Over 90% of the city’s school buildings have sustained damages as a result of the ongoing military actions.
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