Israeli-Hamas Conflict: UN Decries Civilians Casualties After School Attack

The head of the UN Palestine refugee agency (UNRWA) Philippe Lazzarini has expressed concern for the safety of civilians as UNRWA school was attached The UN envoy said at least six people were killed when an UNRWA school being used as a shelter, was hit in the al-Maghazi camp in the middle region of the embattled Gaza Strip on Monday. “Dozens were injured (including UNRWA staff) and severe structural damage was caused to the school. “The numbers are likely to be higher. This is outrageous, and it again shows a flagrant disregard for the lives of civilians,” he said in a statement No place is safe in Gaza anymore, he warned, stressing that it was hit as Israeli airstrikes and bombardment continues. “At least 4,000 people have taken refuge in this UNRWA school turned shelter. They had and still have nowhere else to go.” He said that the agency has provided the coordinates of its facilities to “relevant parties” on a daily basis. The UN human rights office (OHCHR) issued a fresh alert on Tuesday for civilians left in northern Gaza, amid ongoing military operations in the enclave ahead of an anticipated full-scale Israeli response to Hamas’s October 7 attack. The past 10 days of conflict have claimed the lives of 4,200 people, forced more than one million individuals to flee their homes following an order from the Israeli authorities and left large areas in the Gaza Strip “reduced to rubble”, according to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Meanwhile, the Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Joyce Msuya, on Monday, briefed Member States on the Gaza crisis, and said the situation “can only be described as an utter catastrophe.” She added that as every hour passes, the restoration of essential supplies and services, “becomes every more critical.” She said the UN would continue to identify urgent solutions for getting aid into Gaza. UN Secretary- General Antonio Guterres will travel to the Egyptian capital Cairo on Thursday, according to his Spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric to engage with President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi on the Gaza crisis. In southern Gaza where a humanitarian emergency is already playing out, UN relief agencies reiterated their call for a secure and reliable humanitarian corridor to deliver stockpiled aid into the Occupied Territory. Both Egypt and Israel have faced multiple calls from the UN and international community to protect non-combatants impacted by the war. “We call for unimpeded access, safe passage for desperately needed humanitarian supplies to Gaza,” Ms Abeer Etefa, UN World Food Programme (WFP) Regional Communications Lead for the Middle East and North Africa, said. Some 300 tonnes of food “are either at or on the way to the Egyptian border in Rafah,” Etefa said. “That’s enough to feed around a quarter million people for one week.” According to OHCHR, “a large number” of women and children are among the dead in Gaza, as well as at least 11 Palestinian journalists, 28 medical staff and 14 UN colleagues. “It remains unclear how many more bodies may be buried in the rubble – with many families missing loved ones, terrified about their uncertain fate,” Ravina Shamdasani, OHCHR Spokesperson said. Echoing urgent warnings from the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA about the desperate situation in Gaza amid heavy Israeli bombardments, from the air, sea and land, humanitarians echoed deep concern that healthcare facilities had been targeted – raising concerns about medical care for the injured, including pregnant women and those with chronic health issues. Additionally, civilians attempting to relocate to southern Gaza have been struck and killed by explosive weapons, demanding urgent and independent investigation, OHCHR says. The world body has called for an immediate humanitarian pause to facilitate aid delivery and prevent further suffering. “Strict compliance with the laws of war and the protection of civilians is essential to prevent further loss of life in this dire crisis,” Shamdasani said. 

40 killed by militants in Uganda school attack

At least 40 people, mostly students, have been killed at a school in western Uganda by rebels linked to the Islamic State group. A further eight people remain in critical condition after the attack on Lhubiriha secondary school in Mpondwe. Boys who were staying in dormitories at the school are among the dead. The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) – a Ugandan group based in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – have been blamed for Friday’s attack. Many of the bodies were transferred to Bwera Hospital, national police spokesperson Fred Enanga said. The attack happened at around 23:30 local time (20:30 GMT) on Friday at the school in the Kasese district in western Uganda. Over 60 people are educated at the school, most of whom live there. ADF rebels burnt a dormitory and a food store was also looted during the incident, Mr Enanga said. Some of the boys were burnt or hacked to death, Major General Dick Olum from the Ugandan army told the media. Others at the school, mostly girls, have been abducted by the group, he added. Some of the bodies are said to have been badly burnt and DNA tests will need to be carried out to identify them. The attackers are said to have torched the students’ mattresses and are also thought to have detonated bombs in the region. Members of the wider community are possibly among the dead. A number of students remain unaccounted for. Soldiers are pursuing ADF insurgents towards the DRC’s Virunga National park – Africa’s oldest and largest national park which is home to rare species, including mountain gorillas. Militias including the ADF also use the vast expanse, which borders Uganda and Rwanda, as a hideout. “Our forces are pursuing the enemy to rescue those abducted and destroy this group,” defence spokesperson Felix Kulayigye said on Twitter. The Ugandan army has also deployed planes to help track the rebel group. Uganda and the DRC have held joint military operations in the east Congo to prevent attacks by the ADF. Security forces had intelligence that rebels were in the border area on the DRC side for at least two days before Friday night’s attack, Major General Olum said. The deadly episode follows last week’s attack by suspected ADF fighters in a village in the DRC near to the Ugandan border. Over 100 villagers fled to Uganda but have since returned. The attack on the school, located less than two kilometres (1.25 miles) from the DRC border, is the first such attack on a Ugandan school in 25 years. In June 1998, 80 students were burnt to death in their dormitories in an ADF attack on Kichwamba Technical Institute near the border of DRC. More than 100 students were abducted. The ADF was created in eastern Uganda in the 1990s and took up arms against long-serving President, Yoweri Museveni, alleging government persecution of Muslims. After its defeat by the Ugandan army in 2001, it relocated to North Kivu province in the DRC. The group’s principal founder, Jamil Makulu, was arrested in Tanzania in 2015 and is in custody in a Ugandan prison. ADF rebels have been operating from inside the DRC for the past two decades. Makulu’s successor, Musa Seka Baluku, reportedly first pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group in 2016, but it was not until April 2019 that IS first acknowledged its activity in the area. In 2021, suicide bombings in Uganda’s capital Kampala and other parts of the country were blamed on the ADF. -BBC