The school hit by Israeli strike had been sheltering displaced peopleImage: Bashar Taleb/AFP/Getty Images
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Fowler also said that Israeli authorities were made aware that the building was a UNRWA-run facility.
A spokesperson for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, has condemned an Israeli strike that hit a school in the Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza.
At least 35 people were killed in the strike, according to local health officials.
The Israeli military said it carried out a “precision” operation against Hamas militants that it claimed were inside the school.
UNRWA senior communications manager Jonathan Fowler told DW that “we have absolutely no way of verifying such claims.”
The school is run by the UN agency.
“What we have said is that attacking, targeting or using UN buildings [for] any kind of military purposes is a blatant disregard of international humanitarian law. International humanitarian law applies to all parties in all conflicts, including this one,” he said.
Schools in Gaza have become shelters for internally displaced people since the start of the Israeli military offensive in October 2023.
Nevertheless, Fowler said UNRWA has protocols in place to ensure that no soldiers or militants use its facilities.
“UN staff, premises and operations have to be protected at all times. That’s the end of the story,” he said.
“But the primary thing is, we’re talking about the shelter which was sheltering 6,000 displaced people when it was hit. And I really think that that’s what we need to focus on right now.”
Fowler also said that Israeli authorities were made aware that the building was a UNRWA-run facility.
“The coordinates of all of our facilities in the Gaza Strip are shared with all parties, including the Israeli authorities,” he said. “There’s no mystery about what is a UN facility or what’s not a UN facility.”
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