ALBAWABA - According to medical sources cited by Al Jazeera, an Israeli aircraft targeted a UNRWA clinic providing shelter to displaced families in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, killing at least 15 Palestinians, including several children.
The assault, which took place on Wednesday morning, was a component of a larger string of Israeli attacks in southern and central Gaza. Nine children were among the 19 people killed in the attack on the UN-run clinic, according to the director-general of the Gaza Health Ministry, who spoke to Al Jazeera.
Witnesses said that scores of people who had lost their houses had found safety at the clinic, which had been damaged in previous bombs. According to reports, the Israeli attack damaged the area around the facility severely and injured scores of people.
Al Jazeera reported heavy air and artillery attacks in other regions of Gaza in addition to the Jabalia onslaught, raising the dead toll since early morning to 41 and injuring several more.
Israeli soldiers conducted a raid on Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, and ongoing military actions in other regions, such as Jenin and Tulkarem, have forced hundreds of people to flee their homes. Camps in those areas have been mostly cleared out, and UNRWA is finding it difficult to provide basic services in the face of mounting Israeli pressure, the organization's director in the West Bank told Al Jazeera.
The UNRWA representative reaffirmed the organization's commitment to provide healthcare services to almost half a million Palestinians via its 50 facilities and underlined the importance of international adherence to humanitarian law.
This most recent escalation coincides with continuing Israeli military operations in Gaza, which have been characterized as a humanitarian disaster by international agencies and Palestinian officials.
