Tel Aviv [Israel], November 4: The United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees warns it cannot guarantee the safety of nearly 600,000 Palestinians sheltering at UN facilities in Gaza.
The Guardian newspaper on November 4 reported that the United Nations Agency for Refugees Palestine (UNRWA) warned of the inability to ensure the safety of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians sheltering at United Nations (UN) facilities in the Gaza Strip.
According to UNRWA official Thomas White, more than 50 UN facilities have been affected by the Hamas-Israel conflict, including "5 direct hits".
More than 1.5 million people are currently displaced in Gaza and nearly 600,000 are crammed into shelters run by the UN agency.
According to White, although people are taking refuge under the UN flag to seek protection under international humanitarian law, "the reality is that we cannot even provide them with safety under the UN flag".
He said 38 people had died in UN shelters and he was concerned that that number would rise significantly: "Let's be very clear that there is currently no safe place in Gaza".
At least 72 UNRWA personnel have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the outbreak of conflict on Oct. 7. This is the number of UN aid workers killed the most in the short period of time in the conflict.
UN deputy secretary general for humanitarian affairs Martin Griffiths said UNRWA was "de facto out of service".
In another development, Reuters reported that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected on November 4 to listen to the Arab countries' proposal for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, during the meeting in Jordan.
It is expected that the US diplomat will meet with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Source: ThanhNien Newspaper
