US condemns attack on UN Gaza shelter

Earlier Wednesday, the director of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees said two tanks fired a building that was sheltering 800 people in the southern town of Han Yunis. Nine people have been killed, and 75 others have been injured as a result.

“We condemn today's attack at the UN Training Centre in Han Eunice”, said US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel.

You have heard me say it before, and you have heard [American Secretary of State Antony Blinken] who declared it earlier, civilians must be protected and the protected nature of UN buildings should be respected”, he added to reporters.

Asked whether the US was in contact with Israel regarding the attack, Patel refused to give details of the talks, but said “we intend to continue having such conversations with the Israeli Government and to set up these difficult and serious situations”.

“humanitarian workers must be protected so they can continue to provide humanitarian aid to civilians”, Patel said.

The director of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees, Thomas White, said two tank shells hit an agency training centre, which has turned into shelter for Palestinians fleeing the fighting.

He wrote in X é, formerly known as Twitter, that agency workers have failed to reach the attack area because roads are blocked.

A similar attack on a UN building left six people dead, this UN agency reported earlier this week.

The Israeli army announced a day earlier that it surrounded Han Yunis, located south of Gaza. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, he said fierce battles with Hamas fighters are under way in this city.

Since the start of the Israeli offensive in Gaza, over 25,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Health Ministry on Hamas-led territory. This minister does not differentiate between civilians and killed fighters, but has said most of the victims were women and children. / REL/