UPDATE - UN workers should be protected, says US secretary of state after deadly Israeli strikes on UN-run school

ADDS MORE REMARKS BY BLINKEN AND POLISH FOREIGN MINISTER, CHANGES DECK

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) - The UN workers should be protected, said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday after deadly Israeli strikes on a UN-run school killed 18 people on Wednesday.

When asked about Wednesday's strikes on the UN-run school in Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, which killed at least 18 people, including at least six UNRWA staff, Blinken said: "It is important to underscore the essential, vital, imperative work of humanitarians in Gaza and, for that matter, around the world. And it's essential that those activities be protected and indeed be facilitated."

Addressing a joint news conference in Warsaw with his Polish counterpart Radoslaw Sikorski, Blinken said: "We need to see humanitarian sites protected, and that's something that we continue to raise with Israel."

However, Blinken argued that Hamas should not be hiding in such sites and hence endangers the lives of civilians.

He added: "I think it also underscores, once again, the urgency of reaching a cease-fire, because that's the best way of ensuring that we have a genuinely protected space throughout Gaza, a space in which the humanitarians can not only continue to do their work, but massively increase it to the benefit of people who desperately need it, the children, the women and men of Gaza."

In response to another question whether the US gave a green light to Ukraine to conduct long-range strikes deep in Russian territory, Blinken said: "I can tell you that as we go forward, we will do exactly what we have already done, which is we will adjust. We'll adapt as necessary, including with regard to the means that are at Ukraine's disposal to effectively defend against the Russian aggression."

He argued that Russian President Vladimir Putin failed in his goal of erasing Ukraine from the map, absorb it into Russia, and recreate the Russian empire.

Israel has systematically targeted civilian facilities, including schools, hospitals, and places of worship, amid its ongoing offensive on the Gaza Strip.

Under the rules of war, targeting such civilian facilities can constitute a war crime.

Last month, at least 100 people were killed and dozens injured in an Israeli strike on the Al-Taba’een School in Gaza City, where over 6,000 displaced people have sheltered.

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

More than 41,100 people, mostly women and children, have since been killed and over 95,100 injured, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel faces accusations of genocide for its actions in Gaza at the International Court of Justice.