UN says ‘significant’ deaths in strike on one of its Gaza compounds

The United Nations said several people have been killed and wounded in strikes on a UN facility in Gaza City, where hundreds of Palestinians have taken refuge to escape the war.

“The shelling has reportedly resulted in a significant number of deaths and injuries,” the United Nations Development Program said in a statement issued late Saturday.

“The ongoing tragedy of death and injury to civilians ensnared in this conflict is unacceptable and must stop.”

In a separate incident, AFPTV footage showed a crater in the middle of a compound of a school run by the UN agency for supporting Palestinians (UNRWA) in Beit Lahia in north Gaza.

Thousands of people displaced by the war had taken refuge in the school.

Israel has been bombing targets across the Gaza Strip since Hamas fighters carried out an unprecedented deadly attack on southern Israeli communities on October 7.

About 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the Hamas attacks and around 240 people taken hostage, according to Israeli officials.

In retaliatory Israeli strikes more than 11,000, also mostly civilians, have been killed in Gaza, according to Hamas health ministry in the territory.

The ministry has not given updated casualty figures for 48 hours, saying it has been unable to establish contact with hospitals.

It said dozens of bodies are scattered on the streets while ambulances have been unable to reach the casualties due to intense fighting and bombings.

UNRWA announced on Friday that more than 100 of its employees had died in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war.