UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on his X account that what is happening in Gaza is “unacceptable”, after Israeli planes yesterday bombed a reception center for displaced people, belonging to the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), killing at least 18 people, including six employees of the agency.
“These dramatic violations of international humanitarian law must stop now,” Guterres said. According to the Secretary-General, 12,000 displaced people are sheltering in the building hit on Wednesday, in which the Israeli army assured that there was “a command and control center of Hamas” from where it planned and carried out “terrorist attacks against the troops and the State of Israel.”
Guterres also deplored the deaths of six UNRWA staff, who confirmed on Wednesday evening that their members had been killed in two Israeli bombings in the Nuseirat area, in the centre of the Palestinian enclave. “This is the highest death toll among our staff in a single incident,” stated in XAccording to UNRWA, the six dead employees included the manager of the bombed shelter and others who were providing assistance to displaced people.
The European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, also denounced the attack on the UNRWA centre. “The disregard for the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law, in particular the protection of civilians, cannot and must not be accepted by the international community,” Borrell said in X.
