A young Palestinian collect belongings from his damaged house after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. - AP
AMMAN (Bernama-Petra): Philippe Lazzarini, General Commissioner of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said that more than half a million children do not attend the primary and secondary school system in Gaza.
The UN general commissioner denounced that "children (in the enclave) are being robbed of their childhood, " Jordan news agency Petra reported.
"Child casualties in Gaza are tragic, so children’s future is at stake," Lazzarini wrote on X.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip has risen to 27,947, the Health Ministry said on Friday.
In a press statement, the ministry said 67,459 Palestinians have been wounded in the coastal enclave since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict in October last year, Xinhua news agency reported.
Israeli forces killed 107 Palestinians and wounded 142 others in the past 24 hours, the ministry added, noting that some victims remain under the rubble amid heavy bombardment and a lack of civil defence and ambulance crews.
Palestinian security sources and eyewitnesses said Israeli aircraft launched a series of raids targeting several homes in the neighborhoods of Gaza City, including al-Rimal, al-Sabra, al-Zaytoun, Tal al-Hawa, and Sheikh Ajlin.
The sources told Xinhua that ambulances were unable to reach the targeted locations due to Israel's aerial and artillery bombardment and drone attacks on everything moving in those areas.
Meanwhile, at least 8 Palestinians were killed in a bombing that targeted two homes in Rafah, the southernmost Gazan city, said medical sources.
According to paramedics, in Khan Younis, the largest city in southern Gaza, a number of young men were killed as a result of Israel's continued artillery shelling, while another young man and an elderly man were killed by Israeli forces' bullets in the vicinity of Nasser Hospital in the city.
Also, several Palestinians were killed and some others injured as a result of Israeli aircraft bombing a house in the city of Deir el-Balah in central Gaza.
