Head of UN agency for Palestinian refugees slams Israel airstrike on Gaza school-turned-shelter

By Merve Berker

ANKARA (AA) – The head of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) on Thursday slammed the latest Israeli airstrike on a UN-run school now used as a humanitarian shelter for thousands of people in the embattled Gaza Strip.

“Another horrific day in Gaza,” Philippe Lazzarini said on X. “Another UNRWA school turned shelter attacked.”

“This time in Nuseirat, in the Middle Areas, hit overnight by the Israeli Forces without prior warning to the displaced or UNRWA,” he said, noting that the attack took 35 lives and left many more people injured.

“The school was sheltering 6,000 displaced people when it was hit,” he said.

“Claims that armed groups may have been inside the shelter are shocking. We are however unable to verify these claims,” he added.

“Attacking, targeting or using UN buildings for military purposes are a blatant disregard of International Humanitarian law,” he said, stressing: “UN staff, premises and operations must be protected at all times.”

“Since the war in Gaza began (last October), over 180 UNRWA buildings were hit and more than 450 displaced people were killed as a result,” he said.

“UNRWA shares the coordinates of all its facilities (including this school) with the Israeli Army and other parties to the conflict,” he highlighted.

“Targeting UN premises or using them for military purposes cannot become the new norm,” he emphasized.

“This must stop + all those responsible must be held accountable,” he added.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

Nearly 36,600 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and over 83,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Vast tracts of Gaza also lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling has ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.