The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said one of its warehouses in war-ravaged Gaza had been “hit”, amid growing efforts to transport food. food to the besieged Palestinian territory.
Israel’s war on Gaza, which has raged since October 7, has caused mass civilian deaths, reduced large areas to a rubble-strewn desert and triggered warnings of imminent famine in the Palestinian territory. 3 million inhabitants.
“We can confirm that a UNRWA warehouse/distribution center in Rafah (southern Gaza) was hit,” the UN agency said on Wednesday.
“We do not yet have more information on what exactly happened or on the number of UNRWA employees affected,” agency spokesperson Juliette Touma told AFP. .
“UNRWA is using this facility to distribute much-needed food and other vital items to displaced people in southern Gaza. »
The health ministry in Gaza, governed by the Palestinian group Hamas, said four people were killed in the “warehouse bombing.”
This came as donor countries, humanitarian agencies and charities continued their efforts to provide food to the impoverished territory.
Israel’s bombings and ground offensive have killed 31,272 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Health Ministry.
At least 88 people were killed in the last 24 hours, the statement said, adding that “dozens of missing people are still under the rubble.”
The Israeli military said its troops were “intensifying operations” in the southern Gaza Strip, including in the largest city, Khan Younis.
Severe food shortages in Gaza after more than five months of war and siege have killed 27 people from malnutrition and dehydration, most of them children, according to the Health Ministry.
Fahd al-Ghoul, a resident of Jabalia camp in the north, said: “We have been fasting against our will for two months or more. »
“Now, with Ramadan, nothing changes in our reality,” says the fifty-year-old.
