United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke on X on Thursday about the deaths of six employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in this strike.
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The Gaza Civil Defense announced that 18 people, including UN staff, were killed on Wednesday, September 11, in an Israeli airstrike on a school in Nuseirat converted into a shelter for displaced people, with the Israeli army claiming to have targeted “terrorists” of Hamas.
The death toll stands at 18, including two employees of the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), said Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Bassal, who had previously reported 14 deaths. At least 18 people were also injured, according to this source.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres confirmed the deaths of UNRWA staff at the site, giving the number of dead at six.“A school converted into a shelter for 12,000 people was again targeted by Israeli airstrikes today. Six of our UNRWA colleagues are among the dead”he said on the X network.
“What is happening in Gaza is totally unacceptable”Antonio Guterres stressed, declaring that “these dramatic violations of international humanitarian law must cease immediately.” According to UNRWA, “This is the highest number of deaths among our employees in one go.”
The Israeli army said in a statement that its air force had “carried out a precision strike on terrorists operating inside a Hamas command center” in Al-Jouni school. The Hamas government’s press service in the Gaza Strip said the school, which is run by UNRWA, was sheltering about 5,000 displaced people at the time of the strike.
In recent months, the army has struck several schools in the Gaza Strip, accusing them of hosting Hamas command centers, something the Palestinian Islamist movement denies. Tens of thousands of displaced people have sought shelter in schools since the war in Gaza began after Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel.