(Photo Handout from the Palestinian Ministry of Interior)
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency released a statement on Sunday describing the situation in Gaza as “devastating and unpredictable,” and said there were 45 reported deaths on Sunday alone.
Four thousand people fled their homes on Sunday to take refuge in UNRWA installations after the Israeli military gave them order to evacuate Northern Gaza on Sunday morning – an area the Israeli military says Hamas uses to fire long-range rockets at Southern Israel.
The statement called on all parties to abide by international humanitarian law, saying that there must be respect for the “sanctity of civilian life and the inviolability of UN installations.”
Meanwhile, the military wing of Hamas, the Al-Qassam brigades, announced in a statement released on Monday that they had sent unmanned aircrafts into Israel.
“Today, we revealed our aircrafts for the first time,” the statement read. “They carried out specific tasks and flew over the Zionists’ Ministry of War building in Tel Aviv, [the building] from which the war on Gaza is led.”
It added: “The success of our aircrafts in carrying out these tasks documents a triumph for our brigades despite the occupation’s air covers and the advanced interception systems.”
Avichay Adraee, the IDF spokesperson for Arab media, confirmed that the aircraft had entered Israel but said that “it was another failed attempt by Hamas.”
Dr. Bassem Naim, a Hamas official, meanwhile touted his organisation’s military forces. “The state of the resistance forces is excellent,” he said. “They are doing very well and the people support them. But the humanitarian situation is deadly. Hospitals, homes, disability centres have all been targeted, journalists are having a very difficult time, and there are so many martyred families. The resistance is built on hard conditions.”
Since 7 July, after Israel launched “Operation Protective Edge,” Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 168 Palestinians, according to a situation report released by the United Nation’s Office for the Coordination of Human Affairs.
Benjamin Netanyahu said on CBS that Hamas “is responsible for any accidental [Palestinian] civilian deaths” caused by Israel and accused Hamas of “hiding behind civilians”.
Since the operation began, Hamas has fired over 800 rockets at Israel. No Israelis have been killed.
“The parties to the conflict know the exact locations of all UNRWA installations in Gaza. The Israeli Army has the precise GPS coordinates of all our installations in Gaza,” the UNHRWA statement also said.
The UNRWA statement said that over 50,000 people took refuge it is installations in 2008 when Israel launched “Operation Cast Lead” against Gaza.
“As a direct result of military operations people who came to UNRWA installations because they thought they could find safety and security for themselves and their families were killed,” the statement said.
