GAZA remains unsafe for civilians and education is still under threat as shootings and other military attacks persist, a senior U.N. spokesman warned on Tuesday.
At a press conference at U.N. headquarters in New York, Deputy Spokesman for the U.N. Secretary-General Farhan Haq briefed media on the latest report from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, noting that multiple civilian infrastructures, especially schools, were targeted by recent Israeli attacks.
"Our colleagues at the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned that Gaza remains unsafe for civilians as shootings and other military attacks continue, including in places where children are trying to learn," he said.
Among the most recent incidents, a sixth-grade student was struck by a bullet in a tented classroom in Gaza City on Tuesday. While in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, Israeli forces reportedly demolished homes, as well as the last remaining school in what was previously a four-school compound on Monday, and destroyed the tents of nearly a dozen families sheltering in the schoolyard last week, setting up new cement blocks nearby, Haq introduced at the briefing.
The actions marked a further expansion of areas where Israeli authorities have imposed access restrictions, He said.
Israeli authorities have also sought to demolish a local Palestinian school in the West Bank, Haq added.
"We stress that under international humanitarian law, civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected and should not be targeted. Learning spaces must remain safe and protected environments for both students and teachers," said the deputy spokesman.
