People inspect a destroyed classroom in the aftermath of Israeli bombardment on the Palestinian Muscat Governmental School, funded by Omani aid, in Gaza City on October 2, 2024. AFP
UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Friday that the agency helping Palestinian refugees in Gaza, UNRWA, stresses that “schools are not a target and cannot be used for any military purposes by anyone.”
Dujarric says the UN children’s agency, UNICEF, and its humanitarian partners reported this week that at least 87 percent of school buildings in Gaza have been directly hit or damaged since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October.
He says one third of the buildings were UNRWA schools.
In September, Israel bombed a school housing displaced Palestinians in central Gaza, which rescuers said killed 18 people, including six UNRWA staffers.
The strike flattened part of the UN-run facility where Gazans had sought shelter, leaving only a charred heap of rebar and concrete.
Israel has killed nearly 42,000 people, mostly women and children, in its war on Gaza, according to the health ministry, and reduced much of the Strip to rubble.
The UN rights office confirms the figures are accurate.
*This story was edited by Ahram Online.
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