In a tragic incident, an Israeli airstrike hit near the main gate of the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency headquarters in Gaza City, killing at least eight people and injuring many others who were seeking aid or sheltering from the conflict. The attack, which Israel claims targeted a site used by Hamas, devastated a key humanitarian hub amidst Gaza’s escalating crisis. Witnesses described scenes of chaos and desperation, with families fleeing and bodies lying in the rubble. This strike is part of a broader pattern of deadly attacks on Gaza, where civilians continue to suffer immensely from the ongoing violence.
At least eight persons were killed in an Israeli air strike at an assistance center that served as the main office of the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza.
The air strike on Sunday struck the front gate of the organization’s facility in Gaza City, north of the enclave, wounded several Palestinians. The facility is used to distribute the limited humanitarian supplies that enter Gaza.
When the tragedy occurred, hundreds of civilians who had been displaced by the Israeli military’s ground invasion of Gaza took refuge within the facility.
A Palestinian mother on the site reported seeing many dead bodies and that two of her children were hurt in the attack.
“What did these innocent children do wrong? They are running from death towards death. Young men and women are slaughtered by the Israelis,” she said.
“Some people were coming to receive coupons and others had been displaced from their houses and they were sheltering here. Some were filling up water, others were receiving coupons, and suddenly we heard something falling. We ran away, those who were carrying water let it spill,” said Mohammed Tafesh, one of the witnesses.
A Reuters photographer witnessed a low-rise building fully wrecked and people wrapped in blankets lying beside the road, waiting to be removed.
The Israeli military commented on the attack, claiming that the facility was a “shield for terrorist activities” utilized by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
The attack follows a series of attacks across the city the day before, including on the Shati and Tufah camps, where displaced Palestinians from the north were urged to seek safety by the Israeli military. At least 42 Palestinians were killed in the attacks.
The Gaza Ministry of Health reported on Saturday that at least 101 Palestinians had been killed in the previous 24 hours, with 169 wounded.
This was the worst day since the June 8 massacre in the Nuseirat refugee camp, which killed at least 274 Palestinians and injured hundreds more in a daylight operation that resulted in the release of four Israeli hostages.
According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Israeli forces murdered 37,598 Palestinians and injured 86,032, many of whom were children and women, during a catastrophic military onslaught that lasted more than eight months.
Israeli attacks on aid distribution and UN facilities continue despite international outrage and calls for a rapid cease-fire and a boost in relief to prevent the tragic effects of cutting off food, fuel, and medication to Gaza.
According to UNRWA, 445 Israeli military assaults against 188 different UN agency facilities have been registered since the beginning of the war. At least 500 displaced Palestinians were killed while sheltering on the property, with 1,547 injured.
Since October 7, the Israeli military has killed a record 193 UN staff members.
Meanwhile, aid is building up and rotting outside the Gaza Strip, as the Israeli military’s cumbersome bureaucratic procedure and the security concerns of functioning inside the enclave prohibit war-torn Palestinians from receiving assistance.
Recently, GreatGameIndia reported that Gaza is facing a severe hunger crisis as the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas has pushed nearly half a million people to the brink of starvation, with 96% of the population struggling to find enough food.
