Hamas called the attack “a premeditated crime” against the Palestinian people, the international community, as well as the United Nations and its institutions.
At least four Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on the headquarters of a training college of the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), while two others were killed in an airstrike on a clinic in the besieged Gaza Strip.
According to witnesses, fighter jets struck the UNRWA site west of Gaza City on Sunday, causing massive damage, the Anadolu news agency reported.
UNRWA said it was “verifying details of a new reported attack on one of our facilities.”
“Since the beginning of the war, we have recorded that nearly 190 of our buildings have been hit. This is the vast majority of our buildings in Gaza,” Juliette Touma, UNRWA’s director of communications, told Reuters.
‘Premeditated Crime’
The Israeli military confirmed the “precise strike”, claiming it targeted “infrastructure in which Hamas and the Islamic Jihad have been operating from.”
It claimed, “The building had previously served as UNRWA’s headquarters.”
Previous @UNWRA headquarters- currently a shield for terrorist activities.
In a precise strike, IAF fighter jets stuck infrastructure in which Hamas and the Islamic Jihad have been operating from.
The building had previously served as UNWRA’s headquarters.Prior to the…
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 23, 2024
The Palestinian Movement Hamas called the attack “a premeditated crime” against the Palestinian people, the international community, as well as the United Nations and its institutions.
It said the “army’s claim that the center is being used for military purposes is a blatant lie that hides the true intentions of this fascist government towards UNRWA.”
Health Ministry Official Killed
Late on Sunday, Israeli airstrikes on a medical clinic in downtown Gaza City killed two Palestinians, including Dr. Hani Al Jafrawi, the Director of the Ambulance and Emergency Services Administration at the Ministry of Health, according to Al-Jazeera. Several others were injured in the attack.
Gaza’s civil defense agency said in a press release that its “teams recovered the bodies of two martyrs working for the Ministry of Health and a number of injured individuals as a result of Israeli occupation aircraft targeting Al-Daraj Clinic,” without providing further details, reported Anadolu.
PALESTINE CHRONICLE: The director of the Ambulance and Emergency Department in Gaza was killed in the Israeli bombing of the Al-Daraj Clinic in central Gaza.
FOLLOW OUR LIVE BLOG https://t.co/tM8bFzhoov pic.twitter.com/Az6WjJ3pPa
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) June 23, 2024
The airstrikes followed a series of attacks that targeted residential areas in Gaza City and the Nuseirat refugee camp on Sunday morning, killing at least ten civilians.
At least 60 people were killed in relentless Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip in the previous 24 hours, according to Palestinian medical sources, cited by Anadolu.
ICRC Office Damaged
On Friday, Israeli forces fired artillery shells at a gathering of displaced people near the gate of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) field hospital in the Al-Mawasi area in Rafah, killing at least 25 people.
The ICRC confirmed in a statement that “heavy-caliber projectiles landed within meters” of its office and residences.
“The strike damaged the structure of the ICRC office, which is surrounded by hundreds of displaced civilians living in tents, including many of our Palestinian colleagues,” the organization said.
The ICRC office in Gaza, which is surrounded by hundreds of displaced civilians living in tents, was damaged by nearby shelling in Gaza.
Firing so dangerously close to humanitarian structures puts the lives of civilians and humanitarians at risk. https://t.co/SVrwaQ9cNV
— ICRC (@ICRC) June 21, 2024
The organization added that the “grave security incident is one of several in recent days,” adding that previously stray bullets have reached ICRC structures.
“Under international humanitarian law, parties to the conflict have an obligation to take all feasible precautions to avoid harm to civilians and damage to civilian objects, including humanitarian facilities,” the statement said.
Hamas said in a statement that Israel’s “continued targeting of civilian sites” in Gaza, including the attack near the ICRC office, was “confirmation of the continuation of the crime of genocide and the killing of all aspects of life in Gaza, in complete disregard to international demands to stop the aggression, with continued support and direct partnership from the administration of President (Joe) Biden.”
Israeli Bombings Devastate Gaza City, Killing Dozens – Genocide Continues
Rising Death Toll
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 37,598 Palestinians have been killed, and 86,032 wounded. Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
(PC, Anadolu, QNN)
The IDF has told the truth so often that if a serving IDF serviceman/woman told you the sky was blue, you’d only agree once you had confirmation from four independent meteorologists, your own eyes and a satellite view.