Nov. 18 (UPI) — A blast at a U.N. school in Gaza on Saturday potentially killed and injured dozens of people as the death toll in the enclave surpasses 12,000, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.
“Receiving horrifying images and footage of scores of people killed and injured in another UNRWA school sheltering thousands of displaced in the north of the Gaza Strip,” United Nations Relief Works Agency Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini posted to X on Saturday.
“These attacks cannot become commonplace, they must stop. A humanitarian ceasefire cannot wait any longer,” Lazzarini said.
On Friday, Lazzarini said, “I do believe there is a deliberate attempt to strangle our operation and paralyze UNRWA operations.”
The UNRWA said Saturday that the Israeli army has not authorized sufficient fuel for its humanitarian operations.
“Following long weeks of delay, Israeli authorities approved only half the daily minimum requirements for fuel for humanitarian operations in Gaza,” the UNRWA posted to X.
The UNRWA says that at least 787,000 internally displaced persons were sheltering in its facilities and that 66 have been killed.
Separately, footage of injured patients preparing to evacuate Al-Shifa hospital has emerged online. The footage shows injured people, including multiple children struggling to evacuate.
The director-general of Gaza’s hospitals, Mohammed Zaqout, told Al Jazeera that the hospital received a call from the Israeli military at 8 a.m. giving the staff and patients 1 hour to evacuate.
Al-Jazeera also reported that four babies who were left without access to incubators due to power cuts at Al-Shifa died Friday.
Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari denied the allegation that the army demanded the hospital’s evacuation.
“It should be emphasized that at no point did the [Israel Defense Forces] ask to evacuate patients or medical teams and even suggested that whenever there is a request to coordinate a medical evacuation, we will work to facilitate it and transfer the patients to other hospitals,” Hagari posted to X on Saturday.
Local Palestinian officials also reported at least 15 people were killed in a strike on a residence near Khan Younis on Saturday.
Israeli authorities have told people to evacuate areas of Khan Younis in southern Gaza after previously calling on the population to evacuate northern Gaza.
According to the UNRWA, over 1.6 million people have been displaced since Oct. 7.
