More than 300 aid workers have now been killed in Gaza
We are yet again appalled at Israel’s latest deadly attack on a school in central Gaza where Palestinian civilians, mainly women and children, were told to shelter. Many people are reported killed, including six UNRWA humanitarian workers.
Our prayers and deepest condolences are with everybody at UNRWA and the families of those killed. Words cannot describe the sense of abandonment that civilians and humanitarian workers in Gaza feel, as such attacks and violations of international law have become daily occurrences carried out with complete impunity.
More than 300 humanitarian workers have now been killed in Gaza over the past 11 months, as Israel’s relentless bombing has turned Gaza into the most dangerous place in the world to deliver aid. Most of the humanitarian workers killed are local Palestinians who are desperately trying to deliver vital aid while themselves being bombed, forced from their homes, and trying to feed their own children.
The bombed school, in Nuseirat, was sheltering around 12,000 displaced people, many of whom have been forced from their homes several times over the past 11 months, but there is nowhere safe for them to go. Hundreds of thousands of families are sheltering in schools like this, but 85% of all schools in Gaza have now been bombed. UNRWA reports that this particular school has been bombed at least five times.
Aid workers must be protected. Schools, shelters and other civilian infrastructure must never be a target and must be protected at all times. There must be accountability for these ongoing crimes.