United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) condemned this Thursday the bombing carried out by Israel against one of its schools in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the center of the Gaza Strip, which killed at least 40 people, and stressed that there were 6,000 displaced people in the building at the time of the attack.

“Another terrible day in Gaza. Another UNRWA school turned into a shelter was attacked,” said the agency’s Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini, who said on his social media account X that the center was attacked by Israeli forces “without prior notification to the displaced persons or UNRWA.” “

“The allegations that there may have been armed groups at the hideout are shocking. but we have no way to check them”He noted this in response to Israeli army claims that the bombing targeted suspected members of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) present at the sites.

Thus, Lazzarini insisted that “attacks on United Nations buildings or their use for military purposes “This is a blatant disrespect for international humanitarian law.” and added that “UN personnel, facilities and operations must be protected at all times,” while recalling that more than 180 UNRWA buildings and more than 450 displaced persons have died as a result of attacks on these facilities since the start of Israel’s offensive on the Gaza Strip.

“UNRWA transmits the coordinates of all its facilities, including this school, to the Israeli army and other parties to the conflict. Attacks on UN facilities or their use for military purposes cannot become the new normal,” Lazzarini said. “This must stop and all those responsible must be brought to justice,” he stressed.

Hamas-controlled Gaza authorities The death toll is estimated at 40 people. The UNRWA commissioner-general put the figure at least 35 people, including fourteen children, and said the explosion also injured 74 people, including 23 minors. Thus, they emphasized that “the Israeli occupation army repeatedly carried out these massacres in a brutal manner, although it was aware of the presence of tens of thousands of displaced persons in these centers.”

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Thus, They said these actions “are part of genocide.” and they reiterated their condemnation of the United States’ “full support” for Israel, which is “committing its crimes in an organized manner.” “We hold the Israeli occupation and the US administration fully responsible for these crimes against humanity and ask the entire world to condemn these massacres, genocide and ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip,” they stressed.

For its part, the Israeli army confirmed the bombing of the school and claimed that it housed “Hamas terrorists”, among them will be members of the forces that carried out a series of attacks on Israeli territory on October 7, which killed about 1,200 people and abducted about 240.

(Europe Press)