France “condemned” on Thursday the deadly shootings that hit a UN shelter the day before in Khan Younes, in the south of the Gaza Strip, according to a Foreign Affairs press release.
#Israel #Palestinian Territories |
France condemns the shootings which hit a United Nations shelter in Khan Younes yesterday.
Read the statement ➡️ https://t.co/n8IcTYS8Hc pic.twitter.com/aKK88EYv1w
— France Diplomatie🇫🇷🇪🇺 (@francediplo) January 25, 2024
“United Nations sites and humanitarian personnel, whose work is essential to the civilian populations of Gaza, must absolutely be protected,” affirms the Quai d'Orsay, calling on Israel to “comply with international humanitarian law.”
These strikes left 13 dead, according to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).
“As stated by Mr. Stéphane Séjourné, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, we must work immediately for a lasting ceasefire, which alone will put an end to the suffering of the civilian population of Gaza,” continues the communicated.
The United Nations told AFP on Thursday that the Israeli army had ordered the evacuation of this refuge, which houses tens of thousands of displaced people, before Friday 5 p.m. (4 p.m. in Paris).
The army assured that “no specific evacuation request” had been communicated “to Unwra or to those who remain near” the refuge.
A “blatant violation” of the rules of war
The general commissioner of Unrwa, Philippe Lazzarini, denounced “a flagrant violation” of the rules of war, affirming that the coordinates of this center had been “shared with the Israeli authorities”.
The army told AFP that it had “ruled out (…) an air or artillery strike”, also mentioning “the possibility” of a Hamas shot.
According to an AFP journalist, the bombings were incessant Thursday on Khan Younes, the hometown of Yahya Sinouar, the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, considered to be the architect of the bloody attack carried out on October 7 by the Islamist movement against Israel.
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This attack resulted in the deaths of more than 1,140 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures.
Some 250 people were kidnapped in the attack and taken to Gaza, around 100 of whom were released in late November during a truce in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
In response, Israel vowed to “annihilate” Hamas, in power in Gaza since 2007, and launched a vast military operation which left 25,900 people dead, the vast majority of them women, children and adolescents, according to a report. published Thursday by the Islamist movement's Ministry of Health.
In the small territory of Gaza, subjected by Israel to a total siege since October 9, around 1.7 million inhabitants have fled their homes and are crowding, most of them in the south, in desperate humanitarian conditions.