PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES, Jan 25: The death toll from tank fire on a United Nations shelter in Gazas main southern city of Khan Yunis has risen to 12, a top UN aid official said Thursday.
"Twelve people have now been confirmed dead with over 75 injuries, 15 of whom are in a critical condition," Thomas White, Gaza director of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), said in a statement.
On Wednesday, two tank shells struck the UN shelter in Khan Yunis where thousands of displaced Palestinians have taken refuge, he said.
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said the bombardment was a "blatant disregard of basic rules of war".
The compound had been clearly marked as a UN facility and its coordinates shared with Israeli authorities, he said on X, formerly Twitter.
Asked about the tank fire, the Israeli army said "a thorough review of the operations of the forces in the vicinity is underway", adding it was examining the possibility that the strike was a "result of Hamas fire".
The Israeli army is the only force known to have tanks operating in the Gaza Strip.
The United States also condemned the bombardment, with State Department spokesman Vedant Patel saying "civilians must be protected and the protected nature of UN facilities must be respected".
Meanwhile, the White House has condemned Wednesdays deadly shelling of a UN shelter in southern Gaza, reiterating its position that Israel has a "responsibility to protect civilians" as it prosecutes its war with Hamas.
The Gaza director of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said earlier Wednesday that two tank shells had hit a building sheltering 800 people in the city of Khan Yunis, with reports that nine people had died and 75 more were injured.
"We are gravely concerned by reports today of strikes hitting a UNRWA facility -- with subsequent reports of fires in the building -- in a neighborhood in southern Gaza where more than 30,000 displaced Palestinians had reportedly been sheltering," a spokesperson for the White Houses National Security Council, Adrienne Watson, said in a statement.
She called the loss of innocent life a tragedy and deaths and injury of children during the three-month war "heartbreaking."
While the United States remains unwavering in its support for Israel to defend itself against "Hamas terrorists who hide among the civilian population," Watson said, "Israel retains a responsibility to protect civilians, including, humanitarian personnel and sites."
The NSC official also stressed that President Joe Biden remained committed to "working to increase life-saving humanitarian assistance into Gaza and to bring home all of the hostages held there."
The State Department also deplored the attacks on the UN facility and stressed that humanitarian workers must be protected so that they can keep providing lifesaving assistance to civilians.
The Israeli army said Tuesday it had "encircled" Khan Yunis, Gazas main southern city which has become the epicenter of recent fighting.
The attack on the shelter in southern Gazas biggest city sparked international condemnation, while the United Nations slammed a "blatant disregard" for the rules of war. —AFP
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