UNRWA denounces that its main headquarters in Gaza was turned into a “battlefield” and “destroyed”

The agency speaks of a “flagrant disregard” for international law and states that UN facilities “must never be used for military purposes”

15 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has denounced this Monday that its main headquarters in Gaza City has been turned “into a battlefield” and that it has been “destroyed” due to operations carried out by the Israeli Army, within the framework of the military offensive against the Palestinian enclave.

“Shocking,” said the agency’s commissioner general, Philippe Lazzarini, who stated on his account on the social network X that this is “another episode of flagrant disregard for International Humanitarian Law,” after the Army confirmed several attacks and incursions on the facilities, in which it claims the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) had several facilities.

“UN facilities must be protected at all times. They must never be used for military or combat purposes,” he said, stressing that “every war has rules.” “Gaza is no exception,” he added.

UNRWA also cited a report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) which said it would take 15 years to remove the nearly 40 million tons of rubble caused so far by Israel’s offensive, launched after the attacks carried out on October 7 by Hamas and other Palestinian factions.

“The rubble poses a deadly threat to the population in the Gaza Strip as it may contain unexploded ordnance and harmful substances,” the agency said, noting that the UNDP report indicates that these efforts would cost more than $500 million (around 460 million euros).

The Israeli army launched an offensive against Gaza following the attacks on October 7, which left nearly 1,200 dead and some 240 kidnapped. The Gaza authorities, controlled by the Palestinian Islamist group, have reported more than 38,600 dead, in addition to more than 560 Palestinians killed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in operations by Israeli forces or in attacks carried out by settlers.