Tank shelling kills 9 at UN shelter in south Gaza: UN official

AFP , Wednesday 24 Jan 2024

Tank shelling on a UN shelter on Wednesday killed at least nine people in Gaza's main southern city of Khan Yunis, said the Gaza head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

Israeli army tanks roll in southern Israel along the border with the Gaza Strip on January 24, 2024
Israeli army tanks roll in southern Israel along the border with the Gaza Strip on January 24, 2024. AFP

 

"Two tank rounds hit building that shelters 800 people - reports now 9 dead and 75 injured," Thomas White, UNRWA's Gaza director, said on X, formerly Twitter.

Teams from the UNRWA and the World Health Organization were trying to reach the shelter, which has been blocked for two days, White said.

Earlier he said the UNRWA training centre, which shelters tens of thousands of displaced people, had been hit, with "buildings ablaze and mass casualties".

Footage aired on Al Jazeera Arabic showed fire raging and thick plumes of smoke rising out of the building.

Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA, said on Tuesday the same shelter had been hit during military operations.

At least six displaced people were killed and "many more injured" in the fighting, he said.

The Israeli army said Tuesday it had "encircled" Khan Yunis, which has become the epicentre of recent fighting.

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