The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, censuring the severe infringement of international humanitarian law in Gaza, has pleaded for an immediate end to hostilities. His statements came after the tragic incident in which six workers of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) were killed by an Israeli airstrike on a school which was situated in a refugee camp in the southern part of Gaza.
The school had a population of about 12,000 displaced individuals and it was the fifth time that was bombarded since the war broke out between Israel and Hamas last October. According to the reports, at least 18 civilians died in the course of the attack. IDF (Israel Defense Forces) justified the bombings, saying that they targeted areas where terrorists were hiding. They also reasoned that Hamas, in turn, was using the civilian structures in the camp areas as human shields.
UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, a body responsible for the welfare of Palestinian refugees, has reported that so far, 220 of its staff members have been killed in the course of the conflict. The agency, in turn, voiced the intense worrying about the possible taking place of some civilians in the Gaza Strip, and noted the fact that the young are indeed far from being out of harm’s way.
This case brightens the persisting and lethal outcome of the conflict, and even more so raises the importance of a ceasefire and the delivery of humanitarian assistance to those who are mostly affected by the violence.
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