Deepshikha Maan, Jadetimes Staff
D. Maan is a Jadetimes news reporter covering Israel Gaza war
UN reports six staff members were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a school in Gaza.
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has verified that six of its personnel were fatally injured in an Israeli airstrike on a school located in the central region of Gaza. Situated within the Nuseirat refugee camp, the school was functioning as a haven for a large number of Palestinians who had been displaced due to the ongoing fighting.
The Hamas controlled Civil Defence organisation in Gaza has confirmed that the attack on al Jaouni school resulted in the deaths of 18 individuals. The casualties included women, children, and UNRWA personnel, with 18 others allegedly sustaining injuries.
Israel's military admitted to carrying out a "precise strike" on the school, asserting that it was specifically aimed at terrorists hatching plans to launch strikes from that area. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said on Thursday that nine of the deceased were terrorists affiliated with Hamas's armed faction, al-Qassam Brigades, and three of them were also employed by UNRWA.
UNRWA clarified that the Israeli military had not made a formal request for a list of staff fatalities resulting from the incident, and that the names released by Israel had not been previously identified by authorities. The agency demanded the safeguarding of civilian infrastructure, including schools, and underscored the significant number of attacks on the school during the conflict.
The attack was denounced by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who bluntly described the situation in Gaza as "completely unacceptable" and urged for the cessation of the infringements against international humanitarian law. Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, justified Israel's actions by alleging that the UN disregarded Hamas's use of civilians as human shields and criticised the organization's position on the conflict.
Hamas has refuted any claims of utilising schools and other civilian locations for military objectives. Israel, meanwhile, has accused the organisation of integrating military operations with civilian infrastructure, an accusation it restated after the airstrike.
According to Hamas's health ministry, the current confrontation, which commenced following Hamas's unparalleled assault on southern Israel on October 7, has resulted in the fatalities of around 1,200 individuals in Israel and over 41,000 in Gaza. UNRWA has urged for autonomous enquiries into the strategic utilisation of civilian locations for military objectives and emphasised the need of safeguarding civilians and humanitarian personnel.
The al Jaouni school strike is the most severe instance of UNRWA staff casualties observed in a single event since the start of the conflict. Video recordings from the aftermath depicted significant destruction to the school and images of injured individuals, including men, women, and children, being urgently transported to hospitals in close proximity.
Juliette Touma, the communications director of UNRWA, stressed that the organisation had consistently advised all entities involved in the war to refrain from utilising civilian infrastructure for military objectives. The agency further acknowledged that it discloses the identities of its personnel to host countries and the state of Israel, as the occupying authority, but had not received any explicit notifications of any particular issues before the strike.
Concurrently, Israel has persistently accused UNRWA of providing shelter to Hamas members among its personnel, an allegation that the agency has continuously refuted. Prior investigations resulted in the dismissal of several UNRWA personnel on the grounds of accusations of participation in the October 7 attack, while other cases were rejected because of inadequate evidence.
This occurrence underscores the severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza, since UNRWA has documented that 70% of its educational institutions had suffered damage during the hostilities, resulting in the loss of over 200 staff members' lives.
