A UN training center was targeted by two Israeli tanks on Wednesday 24 January. According to initial reports, nine people were killed and 75 injured.
Two tanks fired on a UN training center that had become a shelter for displaced people in Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip, “killing nine people and wounding 75”, a UN official said on X (ex-Twitter).
“Two tanks hit a building that houses 800 people,” said Thomas White, Gaza director of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).
UPDATE – Attack on Khan Younis Training Center this afternoon – Two tank rounds hit building sheltering 800 people – Reports now 9 dead and 75 injured@UNRWA And @WHO A team trying to reach the center – agreed on a route with the Israeli army that is blocked with the Earth Bank #Gaza
— Thomas White (@TomWhiteGaza) January 24, 2024
The Israeli military said on Tuesday it had kept Khan Younes “under siege” where it intensified its operations against the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas. UNRWA and the World Health Organization (WHO) were trying to contact the center on Wednesday, added Thomas White, who earlier reported “fires in buildings and mass casualties”.
10,000 people took shelter in this complex
Images broadcast by Al Jazeera in Arabic showed thick smoke and flames billowing from the building. The entire complex, which houses 10,000 people, was “yet another incident in which a building used for humanitarian purposes has been damaged or struck,” according to James McGoldrick, acting United Nations humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories.
On Tuesday, the head of Unrwa, Filipe Lazzarini, announced that the same building had been “hit during a military operation” a day earlier, with six dead already. Israeli forces told AFP they were not aware of this.
As Israeli forces continue their operations, more than a million people have flocked to Rafah, south of Khan Yunis near the Egyptian border. The war began with an unprecedented attack on Israeli soil by Hamas on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of some 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data.
Israel has vowed to “eliminate” Hamas, which has been in power in Gaza since 2007, and launched a massive military operation that has killed 25,700 Palestinians, mostly women, children and teenagers, according to Hamas’ health ministry.
