UNRWA claims 6 staffers killed in Israeli strike on school; Israeli envoy accuses UN chief of ‘distorting reality’

Biden calls to protect humanitarian workers - IDF says school was used by Hamas

Read this article in:

Outrage erupted once again following another Israeli strike in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, this time caused by UNRWA allegations that the IDF strikes had killed six of its workers in the al-Jaouni School in Nuseirat.

According to the IDF, Israeli Air Force (IAF) fighter jets targeted terrorists who were operating out of a command and control complex located in the former school building. Palestinian sources claimed 18 people were killed in the strikes.

The IDF stated that the complex “was used by Hamas terrorists to plan and carry out terrorist operations against the IDF forces and the State of Israel. Before the attack, many steps were taken to reduce the chance of harming civilians, including the use of precision weaponry, aerial observation and additional intelligence.”

UNRWA (the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) claimed on its 𝕏 account that six of its workers were killed “when two airstrikes hit a school and its surroundings in Nuseirat in the middle areas. This is the highest death toll among our staff in a single incident. Among those killed was the manager of the UNRWA shelter and other team members assisting displaced people.”

“No one is safe in Gaza. No one is spared. Schools and other civilian infrastructure must be protected at all times, they are not a target. We call on all parties to the conflict to never use schools or the areas around them for military or fighting purposes,” the UN agency wrote.

Contradicting these claims, IDF International Spokesman Lt.-Col. Nadav Shoshani wrote on 𝕏.

“The IDF requested that the agency provide details and names of the workers, in order to thoroughly review the claim. To date, no answers have been provided by UNRWA despite repeated requests.”

“Furthermore, an IDF inquiry suggests that a significant number of the names that have appeared in the media and on social networks are Hamas terrorist operatives who took part in terrorist activities against the citizens of the State of Israel and IDF troops,” he stressed.

The IDF later published a list of nine names of people who died in the strikes, which it said were verified Hamas terrorists.

These included at least three confirmed terrorists who at the same time worked for UNRWA, as well as several terrorists who took part in the October 7 massacre.

International leaders, including UN Sec.-Gen. António Guterres quickly critizited Israel over the purported killing of UN workers stating,

“What’s happening in Gaza is totally unacceptable.”

“A school turned shelter for around 12,000 people was hit by Israeli airstrikes again today.”

“Six of our UNRWA colleagues are among those killed. These dramatic violations of international humanitarian law need to stop now,” he added.

Israel’s newly installed UN envoy, Danny Danon responded: “What is ‘unacceptable,’ [Guterres], is the fact you refuse to recognize reality and continue to distort it. Terrorists operating out of civilian buildings previously used by UNRWA are not ‘innocent’.”

“It is unconscionable that the UN continues to condemn Israel in its just war against terrorists, while Hamas continues to use women and children as human shields. I suggest you carefully investigate who these terrorists were, what they were doing in the past and what atrocities they were committing when they were eliminated before making statements,” Danon wrote on 𝕏.

“I’ll reiterate: Israel will continue its just war against terrorism. The solution is not a ceasefire, but the release of all hostages still held in Gaza and the elimination of Hamas.”

In addition, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Israel to protect humanitarian workers, adding that the best way to guarantee their safety is a U.S.-backed hostage and truce deal.

“We need to see humanitarian sites protected, and that’s something that we continue to raise with Israel,” Blinken told the media during a visit to Poland.