Palestinian civilians 'have no choice and must be protected at all times': UNRWA to Israel

AP , Saturday 14 Oct 2023

The U.N. Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) is calling on Israeli authorities to protect all civilians sheltering at the agency’s premises across the Gaza Strip including those in northern Gaza and Gaza City, AP said.

A security guard stands next to a crater in the courtyard of a school run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) following Israeli airstrikes targeting Gaza City on October 9, 2023.

UNRWA said that despite the order to evacuate more than 1 million people from the northern parts of the Gaza Strip and Gaza City to the south, many people — particularly pregnant women, children, older people, and people with disabilities — will not be able to flee the area.

“They have no choice and must be protected at all times,” UNRWA said.

UNRWA said its “shelters in Gaza and northern Gaza are not safe anymore. This is unprecedented.”

Since 7 October, thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have taken shelter from the unprecedented Israeli bombing in the strip in UNRWA shelters.

The indiscriminate Israel bombardment of the strip has left nearly 2,000 dead, thousands injured, an untold number of homes destroyed, and hundreds of thousands without shelter.