Khan Younis: One of the largest UNRWA Shelters hit during military operations – UNRWA

عربي

25 January 2024

UN premises and other civilian sites must be protected under international law

From Thomas White, Director of UNRWA Affairs in Gaza

RAFAH, SOUTHERN GAZA STRIP

“Yesterday, the UNRWA Khan Younis Training Centre was hit by direct fire. It struck a building housing 800 displaced people. At least 13 people were killed and 56 injured, 21 of them critically, in what should have been a place of safety.

“There are 43,000 internally displaced people registered in this massively overcrowded UNRWA shelter, and all of them now find themselves at the epicentre of the war in the Gaza Strip, with their lives in danger as the fighting is so close. Many have already been displaced multiple times and have nowhere else to go.

“Throughout the day and into the early evening, ambulances and our own emergency teams were denied access to the site. When they finally reached it last night, they were able to evacuate around 45 people. The near collapse of the health system and the lack of trauma care in Khan Younis city are making the humanitarian situation ever more intolerable and intense.

“The shelter at the Khan Younis Training Centre has been besieged for five days, with repeated fatalities and injuries.

“This shelter has been impacted directly and indirectly by military activity twenty-two times since 7 October 2023. Yesterday’s strike was the third direct hit on this compound. Buildings flying the UN flag have been hit at least twice by tank fire, without warning.

“Civilian casualties and daily attacks on civilian infrastructure indicate recurring failures by parties to the conflict to uphold the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law: distinction, proportionality, and precaution. Of note, UNRWA shares the location of its shelters directly with the Israeli authorities and we had received assurances that people inside them would be safe.

“We continue to call on all parties to take every precaution to minimize harm and protect civilians and civilian objects, especially in densely populated areas, and to protect hospitals, clinics, medical personnel and UN premises in accordance with international law”.