The United Nations informed AFP on Thursday, that the Israeli military instructed individuals seeking refuge in a shelter in southern Khan Younes to evacuate by the following afternoon, as the location was targeted with lethal tank fire.
The United Nations told AFP on Thursday that the Israeli military ordered people taking refuge in their UNRWA shelter hit with deadly tank fire in southern Khan Younes to leave by the following afternoon.
A spokeswoman for UNRWA, the agency for Palestinian refugees, confirmed testimony from displaced people in the shelter who said the army gave them until 5:00 PM (1500 GMT) on Friday to flee.
“The army called the UNRWA official through the loudspeaker, and she went over to them next to the tanks. They told her to notify us to vacate the premises by 5 PM tomorrow,” said Amal Lubbad, a displaced Gazan at the facility.
“We don’t know where we’ll go.”
Twelve people were killed Wednesday when two tank shells struck the shelter, where thousands had taken refuge, UNRWA said.
“There are over 75 injuries, 15 of whom are in a critical condition,” Thomas White, the agency’s Gaza director, said in a statement.
The majority of Gaza’s population—1.7 million out of 2.4 million—have been forced from their homes, with vast numbers cramming into UN shelters.
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said Wednesday’s bombardment was a “blatant disregard of basic rules of war.”
The compound had been clearly marked as a UN facility and its coordinates shared with Israeli authorities, he said on X, formerly Twitter.
Asked about the tank fire, the Israeli army said “a thorough review of the operations of the forces in the vicinity is underway,” adding it was examining the possibility that the strike was a “result of Hamas fire.”
Khalil Wakim, with AFP
