Over 415,000 displaced Gazans sheltering in UN schools: UNRWA

ANKARA

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said on Sunday that more than 415,000 displaced individuals in Gaza are currently taking refuge in its school buildings.

In a statement shared on social media, UNRWA posted the testimony of Aisha, one of the many Gazan women taking shelter in a school.

Expressing her exhaustion, Aisha said: "This place is meant for education, not for living."

“We suffer immensely under the health conditions we are experiencing, the economic conditions, the struggle to secure food and drink — there is no support, no assistance,” she added.

“Hundreds of thousands more are trying to survive in even worse conditions in makeshift shelters,” the UN agency said.

Israel has launched a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas in October last year, killing nearly 44,400 people, most of them women and children, and injuring over 105,000.

The second year of genocide in Gaza has drawn growing international condemnation, with officials and institutions labeling the attacks and blocking of aid deliveries as a deliberate attempt to destroy a population.

On Nov. 21, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its deadly war on Gaza.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi