Since the start of the Gaza war, more than 180 UNRWA-owned buildings have been hit. Gaza war: Dozens killed in airstrike on UNRWA school Peace and Security
An Israeli airstrike on a UN Refugee Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) school in Gaza killed dozens of civilians sheltering there.
“UNRWA can confirm that one of our schools in the Nuseirat area was shelled by Israeli forces in the early hours of this morning. The school may have been hit multiple times, UNRWA officials said. – The death toll, according to various sources, ranges from 35 to 45 people. Several dozen more people were injured.”
The media, citing the Israeli military, reported that the purpose of the strike was to eliminate Hamas militants, permission was given after aerial surveillance and measures have been taken to reduce the risk to civilians.
Since the start of the Gaza war, more than 180 UNRWA-owned buildings have been hit, killing more than 450 displaced people. UNRWA reminded parties to the conflict that schools and other UN premises should not be used for military purposes.
UN humanitarian agencies warned Thursday that Gaza faces a dangerous sanitation situation as civilians displaced by the war are forced to live on the streets or in destroyed UNRWA facilities.
Insufficient Aid Volumes
In its latest report, UNRWA said that aid groups had been allowed to assemble just under 450 truckloads in support of the humanitarian operation over the past three weeks. “This is nothing compared to existing needs,” UNRWA said. According to agency calculations, at least 600 truckloads of humanitarian aid per day are needed to prevent famine in Gaza.
“All attention is now focused on the proposal for peace through a ceasefire, the release of all hostages and increasing supplies of supplies to Gaza,” the UNRWA statement said. The agency recalled that the United States and 16 other countries expressed full support for the ceasefire and hostage release proposal announced by President Biden on May 31.
The threat of cholera
Humanitarian organizations are concerned about the possibility of outbreaks of deadly diseases in Gaza, as people are forced to live next to mountains of garbage and sewage.
According to the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Ghebreyesus , the lack of clean drinking water indicates the possibility of cholera spreading. “Intense fighting has severely undermined the health care system in Rafah, where tens of thousands of vulnerable people remain,” he said in a post on the X website.
Currently in Rafah is provided with medical services only by the United Arab Emirates field hospital, “but it is increasingly difficult to reach due to the fighting,” Tedros Ghebreyesus noted.
Violence in the West Bank
More than 500 Palestinians and 12 Israelis have been killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since October 7, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Some 280 olive and fig trees and 580 grapevines have been vandalized by Israeli settlers in just one week.
“At a time when all eyes are on Gaza, it is necessary remember the people of the West Bank. The situation there is extremely unstable, people need support and protection,” said UN Humanitarian Coordinator in the Occupied Palestinian Territory Muhannad Hadi.