Key points
- Two airstrikes on a school in Gaza have killed six UNRWA workers, the agency said.
- UNRWA said it was the highest number of casualties in a single incident.
- UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the killings as “totally unacceptable”.
The United Nations Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA) said six staff members were killed after two airstrikes hit a school in central Gaza, marking what it said was the highest toll of fatalities among its personnel in a single accident.
“Among those killed were the director of the UNRWA shelter and other members of the team providing assistance to the displaced,” UNRWA said on X.
On Wednesday (local time), the Israeli army said in a statement that it had conducted an attack on a command and control center in Nuseirat, central Gaza, which it said was run by the Palestinian militant faction Hamas.
“This school has been hit five times since the start of the war. It hosts around 12,000 displaced people, mostly women and children,” UNRWA added.
The Gaza government’s press office said the Israeli attack killed at least 18 people, including UNRWA staff members.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres told Reuters that the lack of accountability for the killing of U.N. staff and aid workers in Gaza was “totally unacceptable.”
The Israeli military says it is taking measures to reduce the risk of harm to civilians and that at least a third of Palestinian casualties in Gaza were militants.
It accuses Hamas of using Palestinian civilians as human shields, which Hamas denies.
The war broke out on October 7 when according to Israeli counts.
That of Israel it has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, according to the enclave’s health ministry.