Israeli airstrikes in Gaza kill 34, including 6 UN staffers

Two Israeli airstrikes overnight and on Wednesday over central Gaza has claimed at least 34 lives, including that of six United Nations’ staffers and 19 women and children, news agency AP reported.

The Israeli airstrike targetted a UN school in the Nuseirat refugee camp, which was sheltering nearly 12,000 displaced Palestinians.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Palestine said that this was the highest death toll among staffers in a single incident. In a post on X, UNRWA said, “Among those killed was the manager of the UNRWA shelter and other team members providing assistance to displaced people.”

In a statement earlier on Wednesday, the Israeli army stated that it conducted a strike on a command and control center in Nuseirat in central Gaza, which it said was operated by Palestinian militant faction Hamas. The Israeli military has stated that its operations aim to eliminate Hamas militants, claiming that the school was being used as a base for planning attacks, according to AP.

Israel military claimed that measures are being taken to reduce harm on civilians and stated that at least a third of the Palestinian fatalities in Gaza are militants, as per Reuters report.

Talking to Reuters, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that a lack of accountability for the killing of UN staffers and humanitarian aid workers in Gaza was “totally unacceptable”.

UNRWA further stated that since the inception of the war, the al-Jaouni Preparatory Boys School refugee camp in Nuseirat has been attacked five times and confirmed that the camp mainly shelters women and children. This attack on the UN school is part of a broader pattern where over 90 per cent of Gaza’s school buildings have been damaged due to ongoing military actions and that more than half of the schools currently housing displaced persons have also been targeted, according to a survey in July by the Education Cluster, a collection of aid groups led by UNICEF and Save the Children.

In the airstrike, one of the children killed was the daughter of Momin Selmi, a member of Gaza’s civil defense agency, the agency confirmed. The agency rescues wounded and retrieves bodies after strike.

UNWRA director, Philippe Lazzarini, in a post on X said, “Humanitarian staff, premises & operations have been blatantly & unabatedly disregarded since the beginning of the war.”

How did the offensive on Gaza unfold

In the West Bank, violence surged as Israeli forces conducted raids on Wednesday in several towns, resulting in multiple casualties. Meanwhile, an Israeli soldier was killed after he was rammed by a truck near the settlement of Givat Assaf. Moreover, Israeli airstrikes in the Tubas region reportedly killed five individuals, according to the Israeli military. In another airstrike on a car at least three people were killed, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

The Palestinian Health Ministry reports that the conflict has resulted in at least 41,084 Palestinian deaths and over 95,000 injuries since the onset of hostilities following the October 7 attacks by Hamas that killed approximately 1,200 Israelis. As international efforts to broker a ceasefire remain stalled, the cycle of violence shows little sign of abating.

UAE evacuates critically wounded Gazans

Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates in a statement confirmed on Wednesday that they have evacuated 97 critically wounded and sick Gazans which includes cancer patients alongwith their families and relatives, for “vital medical treatment.”

US imposes sanctions

Additionally, the United States imposed new sanctions on three people, five companies and two vessels who were involved in smuggling oil and gas to generate revenue for Hezbollah. Bradley T. Smith of the Treasury Department in a statement said that Hezbollah, the Iran backed milant group , “continues to launch rockets into Israel and fuel regional instability, choosing to prioritize funding violence.” He added, “Treasury will continue to disrupt the oil smuggling and other financing networks” that support Hezbollah’s “war machine.”

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