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Israeli forces attacked an assist warehouse in Gaza's southernmost metropolis of Rafah on Wednesday, killing not less than one UN reduction and motion company worker and wounding 22 others, the company mentioned.
UNRWA is the biggest grassroots assist group in Gaza and the principle lifeline for its 2.2 million residents, greater than half of whom had been pressured to stay in Rafah, on the southernmost finish of the enclave, attributable to Israeli army orders or combating. Is.
Philippe Lazzarini, the company's head, mentioned in an announcement that “the assault on one of many only a few UNRWA distribution facilities remaining within the Gaza Strip comes at a time when meals provides are operating out, starvation is widespread and, in some areas, famine.”
The Israeli army didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
The UNRWA facility in East Rafah serves as each a warehouse and meals distribution middle for assist provides. Juliet Touma, the company's communications director, mentioned it was not distributing meals to civilians on Wednesday, however greater than 50 workers had been working on the facility when Israeli forces attacked it round midday.
Footage and video taken by Reuters photographers on the scene confirmed blood splattered in a number of locations across the facility: on the warehouse ground surrounded by piles of assist, soaked on the aspect of a field of medical provides for kids and on the bottom exterior. frozen.
In accordance with the company, not less than 165 UNRWA workers have been killed whereas working in Gaza for the reason that conflict started. It additionally mentioned that greater than 400 individuals had been killed whereas looking for shelter in UNRWA services, a collective determine of greater than 150 occasions the variety of casualties in the course of the conflict.
Mr Lazzarini mentioned UNRWA had shared the coordinates of all its services in Gaza with “events to the battle” every day and that the Israeli army had obtained the coordinates of a meals distribution middle the day earlier than on Tuesday. wash it.
“Assaults towards UN services, convoys and personnel have develop into commonplace in blatant disregard of worldwide humanitarian regulation,” Mr Lazzarini mentioned.
Martin Griffiths, the highest UN humanitarian chief, condemned the assault on the warehouse. on social mediaIt was described as “devastating for each assist employees and the households they had been attempting to assist.”
“They should be protected,” he mentioned. “This conflict has to cease.”