‘Another day of horror’: UN human rights office condemns Israeli airstrikes on Gaza schools

At around 4:30 a.m. during Saturday morning prayers, a mosque inside Al Tabaeen School was attacked by the IDF “at least three times,” the UN human rights office said. OHCHRin the Occupied Palestinian Territory said in a declareand added that the attacks were “conducted with apparent disregard for the high rate of civilian casualties”.

Initial reports suggest the airstrikes killed at least 93 Palestinians, including 11 children and six women.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, from October 7 to August 8, at least 39,699 Palestinians were killed and 91,722 injured in the ongoing war.

More than 90 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced, multiple times, since October 7, when Hamas-led attacks on Israel left 1,200 people dead and 250 taken hostage, with more than 100 still in Gaza as talks continue to end the war.

Schools must not be targets: UNRWA chief

Schools, UN facilities and civilian infrastructure should not be targeted, said Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees. UNRWAmentioned on social media parcel on saturday morning

“Another day of horror in Gaza, another school attacked with reports of dozens of Palestinians killed, including women, children and the elderly,” he said, adding that parties to the conflict must not use schools and other civilian facilities for military or combat purposes and must always protect civilians and civilian infrastructure.

“It is time for the horrors unfolding under our watch to end,” he said. “We cannot allow the unbearable to become the new norm. The more it repeats, the more we lose our common humanity.”

21st school strike since July

The majority of deaths from IDF airstrikes on Saturday appear to have occurred inside the mosque as worshippers were praying, OHCHR reported. Dozens of others were reportedly seriously injured, mostly children, women and the elderly.

This is at least the 21st attack on a school, each serving as a shelter, that the UN Human Rights Office has recorded since July 4. These attacks have left at least 274 people dead, including women and children.

“Despite the IDF’s claims that every measure is taken to avoid harming civilians, the repeated attacks on shelters [for displaced people] “In areas where people are forcibly displaced and the impact on civilians is persistent and predictable, it shows that strict compliance with the obligations required by international humanitarian law has not been achieved,” OHCHR said.

Schools are often ‘refuges of last resort’

The agency said the systematic attacks on the school came as much of Gaza’s population was displaced while the Israeli army continued to blow up residential buildings and restrict access and delivery of humanitarian aid.

Internally displaced Gazans face “unspeakable horror” after 10 months of fighting, including multiple forced displacements, rapidly spreading disease and persistent denial of access to basic necessities of life, OHCHR said.

“For many, schools are the last place to find shelter and access to food and water,” according to the UN agency.

Violation of international humanitarian law

In most cases, the Israeli military maintained that the schools were being used by Palestinian militant groups and that it had taken steps to minimize harm to civilians, the OHCHR said.

“While the co-location of military targets with civilians by armed groups or the use of civilian presence for the purpose of protecting military targets from attack constitutes a violation of international humanitarian law, it does not negate Israel’s strict obligation to comply,” the OHCHR said.

Includes the principles of proportionality, differentiation and precaution when conducting military operations.

“Israel, as the occupying power, has an obligation to provide the people it has forcibly displaced with basic humanitarian needs, including safe shelter,” the UN human rights office said.