Israeli Airstrike Kills Six UN Staff Workers on Gaza School

Gaza, MINA – Israel has killed a further six United Nations humanitarian workers in a strike on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, in the Occupation’s latest attack on both civilians and UN staff in its ongoing offensive, Middle East Monitor reports.

On Wednesday, Israeli forces launched a strike on the Al-Jaouni school in Gaza’s Nuseirat Refugee Camp area, killing at least 18 people and flattening part of the UN-run facility which houses around 12,000 displaced people, most of whom are women and children.

Amongst those killed in the strike, the fifth attack on the school since the start of the Israeli offensive eleven months ago, were six staff members of the UN’s Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), consisting of the shelter manager and five other personnel.

According to the UN agency, the attack was the deadliest for its staff since the start of the hostilities, with it stating that was “the highest death toll among our staff in a single incident”. The strike has brought the total number of UNRWA staff killed in Gaza to 220.

Israel’s latest attack on a civilian and humanitarian facility in the besieged Palestinian Territory was condemned by figures throughout the international community, with UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, calling it “totally unacceptable” and highlighting that it violated international laws protecting civilians in conflict.

“These dramatic violations of international humanitarian law need to stop now,” he demanded.

The EU’s top diplomat and Foreign Policy chief, Josep Borrell, also expressed that he was “outraged” by the strike, stating that the “disregard of the basic principles of international humanitarian law, especially protection of civilians, cannot and should not be accepted by the international community.” (T/RE1/P2)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)