'No place safe' in Gaza, including hospitals, schools: UN humanitarian affairs office

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

GENEVA (AA) - The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Saturday said that "no place is safe" in Gaza and called for the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure.

"No place is safe, not even hospitals and schools," OCHA said on X.

"Civilians and civilian objects must be protected at all times. Significant damage has been inflicted upon critical infrastructure and essential services in Gaza, affecting people's ability to maintain their dignity," it said.

The agency stressed that 279 schools and 135 health facilities, where many have taken shelter, have been hit and damaged.

In a separate post, the UN relief chief said that there can be "no justification for acts of war in health care facilities, leaving them with no power, food and water, and shooting at patients and civilians trying flee."

"This is unconscionable, reprehensible and must stop," Martin Griffiths said on X.

“Hospitals must be places of greater safety and those who need them must trust that they are places of shelter and not of war," Griffiths added.

Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip – including hospitals, residences, and houses of worship – since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Oct. 7.

At least 11,078 Palestinians have been killed, including 4,506 children and 3,027 women. The Israeli death toll, meanwhile, is around 1,200, according to official figures.