The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) announced at least five people, including a staff member, were killed and 22 others wounded after Israeli soldiers targeted a food distribution center in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini in a statement on Wednesday said that the strike hit one of the very few remaining UNRWA distribution centers in the eastern part of Rafah.
“Today’s attack on one of the very few remaining UNRWA distribution centers in the Gaza Strip comes as food supplies are running out, hunger is widespread and, in some areas, turning into famine,” Lazzarini added.
“Every day, we share the coordinates of all our facilities across the Gaza Strip with parties to the conflict,” he continued.
He stressed the attack was carried out even though “the Israeli Army received the coordinates including of this facility yesterday”.
Lazzarini further urged the protection of the UN, its staff, and its premises and called for an independent investigation.
Israel acknowledged an airstrike on a food aid distribution center in southern Gaza, which it claimed targeted and killed a high-ranking member of Hamas.
Meanwhile, the statement by the UNRWA head added that since October 7, at least 165 team members have been killed while in the line of duty and more than 400 people sheltering in UN buildings also lost their lives due to Israel’s attacks.
More than 150 of the agency’s facilities, including schools and shelters, have been hit in the war, with some destroyed, and UNRWA staff have reportedly been mistreated and humiliated while in Israeli detention centers, according to the UNRWA.
The Israeli military has restricted the delivery of humanitarian supplies to northern Gaza for weeks, and thousands of children are going without sufficient food and medication.
The prevention of aid convoys comes as humanitarian officials have already issued a dire warning, stating that unless a ceasefire is implemented and aid is significantly increased, the toll of malnutrition and disease is expected to rise, leading to an alarming loss of lives.
So far, the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 31,300 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 73,000 others.
Iran has dismissed any direct contact with the rebel group that has taken power in…
Moscow’s threat to Europe extends beyond defense to illegal immigration and cybersecurity, Italian Prime Minister…
A deputy Iranian foreign minister has criticized Washington for taking Iranian nationals hostage under the…
Iranian Interior Minister, Eskandar Momeni, has raised alarms over the nation's declining population growth, warning…
US President-elect Donald Trump has sent a message to Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, asking him…
A member of Iran’s Supreme Council of Cyberspace has voiced his opposition to the government's…