An Israeli raid on the Attar area on the western outskirts of Khan Younis killed at least 13 people and injured 26 yesterday, Gaza’s Ministry of Health reported, with four children among the dead.
The air strike hit near an area of tents housing displaced families.
The director of the Indonesian Hospital in North Gaza said four bodies and five wounded people arrived at the hospital, following the Israeli bombing that targeted people at the Sheikh Zayed roundabout.
UNRWA schools across the Gaza Strip are filled with displaced Palestinians hoping for some protection, though they know nowhere is safe.
Israeli forces have consistently targeted the UN agency’s schools and shelters, leaving thousands homeless and causing numerous casualties and injuries.
UNRWA spokeswoman Tamara Alrifai said attacks over the past week in Gaza have been some of the bloodiest so far, with the destruction of the UNRWA headquarters in Gaza demonstrating Israel’s disregard for the law in its war on the territory.
‘The last week has been one of the deadliest in Gaza since the war started. The images that are coming out of the UNRWA headquarters are really shocking.
‘It speaks volumes to the blatant disregard for international humanitarian law because to date of UNRWA’s facilities in Gaza, most of which serve as shelters for displaced people, 190 have been damaged during the conflict, killing more than 500 people inside them.
‘The people who seek shelter at UNRWA facilities are looking for protection inside a UN building, under a UN flag’, she said, adding that more than 1,600 people have been injured in attacks on buildings that are protected by international law.
- Three far-right groups that have prevented humanitarian aid from reaching Gaza – including one accused of looting or destroying supplies – have raised more than $200,000 from donors in the US and Israel, The Associated Press and the Israeli investigative site Shomrim have found, in an examination of crowdfunding websites and other public records.
Incentivising these donations by making them tax-deductible runs counter to America’s and Israel’s stated commitments to allow food, water and medicine into Gaza.
- Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said it will ensure that the Israeli forces responsible for attacking the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital in Gaza – the only specialised cancer treatment centre in the territory – will face ‘justice in international courts’.
In a blunt statement, the ministry said Israeli forces posing for a photo in front of the destroyed hospital in Gaza was ‘further evidence of Israel’s violation of international law and international humanitarian law.
‘The damage caused to the hospital by the Israeli forces and its use as a military base is part of Israel’s systematic policy aimed at the annihilation of the Palestinian people,’ the ministry said.
