UN official condemns Israeli massacre in Gaza school

Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict Leila Zerrougui called yesterday for holding accountability and prosecution of all sides responsible for “war crimes” in Gaza.

In a statement reported by Anadolu, Zerrougui condemned the Israeli attack on the UN school in the Jabalia Refugee Camp in the north of the Gaza Strip that killed at least 15 civilians.

She said there are “no safe places for the children of Gaza… Another UN school, used to shelter 3,300 displaced people was hit by Israeli shelling, despite clear information provided to the Israeli army from the UN that the school was housing IDPs. Civilians, including children, were killed and injured. I strongly condemn this grave violation of international law.”

Zerrougui explained that more than 40 per cent of the Gaza Strip has been affected by the Israeli offensive, either because of “evacuations or declared no-go zones, the civilian population is left with little possibility to seek protection”. In addition, she said healthcare facilities are being destroyed.

She added that more than a quarter of those killed since the assault began were children, with numbers now reaching 315.

The UN official encouraged all sides to put an end to the violations against children, abide by the international laws and respect their sanctity. She called upon them to protect schools and.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said that the Israeli attack on the UN school killed 15 and wounded at least 100. This was the second such attack. Last week, Israel attacked another school, killing 16 and sending scores of wounded.

Since the beginning of the ground operation by the Israeli occupation, the UN schools in Gaza became shelters for more than 215,000 Palestinian civilians, according to UN statistics.

Since the beginning of the Israeli war on Gaza, the Israeli army has killed 1,374 Palestinians and wounded more than 7,500 others.