The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees “UNRWA” announced today, Tuesday, that 12 of its facilities in Gaza City were subjected to direct or indirect strikes between 11 to 16 September 2025.
UNRWA said on its official website that among the targeted facilities were nine schools in addition to two health centres, which were sheltering more than 11,000 displaced persons, noting that its activities in Gaza City had decreased significantly as a result of the deterioration of the security situation.
The only UNRWA health centre, north of Wadi Gaza (Al-Shati Camp), was also forced to suspend its operations on 13 September due to the intensification of attacks and the damage it sustained during the raids.
The agency indicated that the massive destruction inflicted on the city’s infrastructure, along with the severe disruptions to humanitarian operations and the restrictions imposed on access, severely hinder the last remaining lifelines for civilians in Gaza City.
The Independent International Commission of Inquiry concluded on 16 September that the Israeli occupation had committed genocide, explaining that the occupation had prevented trusted relief agencies (including UNRWA) from delivering essential, life-saving aid, with the aim of “destroying the Palestinians in Gaza materially through harsh living conditions in the Strip.”
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that about half of the displacement movements exceeding 246,800 movements recorded since mid-August occurred during the past week alone, with increasing reports of displaced families sleeping in the streets or in temporary tents and struggling to survive.
“UNRWA” pointed out that the Israeli forces had tightened the restrictions imposed on movement and access in the West Bank, including installing new road gates to control the movement of Palestinians inside and outside communities throughout the area.
The statement of the “UNRWA” agency reveals a dangerous escalation in violations affecting civilians and humanitarian infrastructure in Gaza City, which not only constitutes a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law but also places civilians in direct danger and deprives them of essential services amid an escalating humanitarian catastrophe.
Targeting facilities belonging to the United Nations, which enjoy special protection under the Geneva Conventions, represents a direct threat to the right to life, health, and education. Preventing the arrival of humanitarian aid and obstructing the work of relief agencies also indicates a systematic policy aimed at starving the population and stripping them of the means of survival, which intersects with the conclusion of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry regarding the commission of the crime of genocide.
The worsening displacement situation, where tens of thousands of families sleep in the streets or in temporary tents, reflects a complete collapse of the minimum level of humanitarian protection. Tightening movement restrictions in the West Bank also deepens the system of collective punishment imposed on the Palestinian people.
Accordingly, these developments call for urgent action by the international community to ensure the protection of civilians, hold accountable those responsible for targeting humanitarian facilities, and exert pressure to lift the restrictions that are strangling the lives of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank alike.
It is noted that since 7 October 2023 the occupation has been committing genocide in Gaza, which has left 65,344 dead and 166,795 injured, most of them children and women, and famine has claimed the lives of 442 Palestinians, including 147 children.
