Israel targeted 69% of schools sheltering displaced people in Gaza: UN agency

ISTANBUL

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said on Sunday that the Israeli army bombed 69% of schools housing displaced people inside the Gaza Strip.

In a statement, the agency said that “according to Global Education Cluster, 69% of school buildings where displaced families were seeking shelter have been directly hit or damaged.”

“This blatant disregard of humanitarian law must stop. We need a ceasefire now,” it added.

On Friday, the UNRWA noted that in Gaza, over 76% of schools require reconstruction or major rehabilitation to be operational again, according to the Global Education Cluster.

The Global Education Cluster, established in 2007 by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, is led globally by UNICEF and the local Child Protection Network. It serves as a joint coordination mechanism among organizations engaged in humanitarian responses within the education sector during instances of internal displacement.

As of June 17, the Israeli war has resulted in the complete destruction of 110 schools and universities, with 321 schools and universities partially damaged. The war has also claimed the lives of over 10,000 male and female students, according to the government media office in Gaza.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

More than 37,500 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and over 85,900 others injured, according to local health authorities.

More than eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi.