UNRWA sheltering over 400,000 Palestinians at its schools, buildings in Gaza

The UN Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said late Sunday that more than 400,000 Palestinians have taken refuge in its schools and buildings across the Gaza Strip.

“Old people, children, pregnant women, people with disabilities are just being deprived of their basic human dignity. This is a total disgrace,” it said on the social media platform X.

“We as UNRWA are mourning the loss of 14 colleagues,” it added.

In a related development, The Times of Israel newspaper cited Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari as saying that 600,000 Palestinians had moved from northern areas of the Gaza Strip to the south.

Israel also said Sunday that it had resumed water supply to the southern part of the Gaza Strip to encourage the evacuation of the northern part of the enclave.

Israeli calls for Palestinians to evacuate northern parts of the Strip did not receive a significant response amid international criticism and calls for Israel to reconsider its decision.

In a dramatic escalation of Middle East tensions, Israeli forces launched a sustained military push against the Gaza Strip last weekend in response to a military offensive by the Palestinian group Hamas in Israeli territories.

The conflict began when Hamas initiated Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, a multi-pronged surprise attack including a barrage of rocket launches and infiltrations into Israel via land, sea, and air.

Hamas said the operation was in retaliation for the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem and Israeli settlers' growing violence against Palestinians.

The Israeli military then launched Operation Swords of Iron against Hamas targets within the Gaza Strip.

Israel's response has extended to cutting water and electricity supplies to Gaza, further worsening living conditions in an area that has endured a crippling siege since 2007, as well as ordering more than 1 million Gazans in the northern Strip to evacuate to the southern region.