UNRWA chief: Israel violates all rules of war in Gaza
Attacks on schools, hospitals ‘commonplace’
Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), said attacks on schools and hospitals have been commonplace in Gaza, stressing that Israel has violated all the rules of war in the Palestinian territory.
“Attacks on schools and hospitals have been commonplace. The world must not become numb. All wars have rules. All of those rules have been broken,” Lazzarini said in a post on his X account. Lazzarini reiterated his calls for a cease-fire in Gaza.
“A cease-fire is long overdue—a respite for civilians wherever they are including across Gaza & the immediate release of hostages. Enough time was wasted,” he stated.
The head of the UN’s agency said “one child gets killed every hour” in Gaza by Israeli attacks.
“These are not numbers. These are lives cut short. Killing children cannot be justified.”
“Those who survive are scarred physically and emotionally,” he added.
Lazzarini warned that the clock was ticking for these children. “They are losing their lives, their futures and mostly their hope.”
An official from one of only two functioning hospitals in northern Gaza said on Monday that Israeli forces were continuing to target his facility and urged the international community to intervene before it is “too late.”
Hossam Abu Safiyeh, director of Kamal Adwan hospital in the city of Beit Lahia, described the situation at the medical facility as “extremely dangerous and terrifying” owing to shelling by Israeli forces. Safiyeh reported that the hospital, which is currently treating 91 patients, had been targeted on Monday by Israeli drones.
“This morning, drones dropped bombs in the hospital’s courtyards and on its roof,” said Safiyeh in a statement.
“The world must understand that our hospital is being targeted with the intent to kill and forcibly displace the people inside.”
On Sunday, Safiyeh said he received orders to evacuate the hospital, but the military denied issuing such directives.
The health ministry in Gaza said on Monday that 58 people were killed in the Palestinian territory in just 24 hours, bringing the overall war death toll to 45,317.