A view of a United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Khan Yunis, Gaza on October 22, 2023. (Credit: AFP)
BEIRUT — Israel is not allowing ambulances and rescue workers to enter the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) shelter that it struck on Wednesday afternoon in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, despite repeated attempts from the World Health Organization to mediate their entry, UNRWA spokesperson in Gaza Adnan Abu Hasna told L'Orient Today.
"Israel has blocked the road with sand bags to stop ambulances from passing," Abu Hasna said, noting that "the shelter, which was initially an education center, has around 10,000 displaced people from Gaza in total, and the building that was struck had 800."
Abu Hasna explained that UNRWA sends the coordinates of each official shelter directly to the Israeli army twice a day, once in the morning and once at night, in a process that's understood to mark them as supposedly safe zones.
"But this strike shows that no place is safe in Gaza," Abu Hasna said.
UNRWA Gaza Director Thomas White wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that Israeli tanks fired two rounds at the shelter Wednesday, killing nine people and injuring 75 others. He too reported that the "agreed-upon route" to the center was blocked by the Israeli army with an "earth bank," preventing World Health Organization and UNRWA personnel from carrying out rescue operations.
Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wings of Hamas, said in a statement on Telegram that its fighters targeted four Israeli Merkava tanks with Yassin-105 shells, west of Khan Younis.
An Israeli armored personnel carrier and a bulldozer were also targeted, southeast of Khan Younis, the statement added.
Al-Qassam Brigades said that one of its artillery units bombed a station of Israeli soldiers with heavy-caliber mortar shells, causing direct casualties among their ranks.
Over 25,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the beginning of the Israeli assault ongoing since Oct. 7.