United Nations Radio

Three young men were killed last night at a UN-run school in Gaza, where they were taking refuge.

child bombed in Gaza

The UN agency in Gaza, UNRWA, is describing the incident as a direct hit by the Israeli military forces. I spoke to Christopher Gunness of UNRWA earlier and asked him about this latest attack on humanitarian facilities:

Gunness: I'm not saying this was deliberate targeting, but there was a direct hit on the school and three people concerned were killed. We want this incident to be investigated. There has to be a basis for a response to this in international humanitarian law. There has to be an impartial and immediate investigation. If it is found that there are violations of international law, then those who are guilty of this must be brought to justice, because make no mistake - although the guns are still firing now, much further down the road, a sense of justice for the victims will be an extremely important contribution to peace.

BK: I understand that you've informed the Israelis of your locations, but this is not the first incident?

Gunness: Well, we have indeed, told the Israelis before this offensive began. They know very well, of course, they have their own very detailed maps of Gaza. When there's street-to-street fighting that is, of course, inevitable and understandable. So they knew that this was an UNRWA school, they knew that the school is clearly marked, which it is. UNRWA installations like other schools and other UN facilities in Gaza should be protected, should not be subject to attack. And we would call on the Israeli authorities to respect the neutrality of the United Nations, because our workers and those we are trying to protect are being killed with each bomb that drops on the Gaza strip, this tiny densely populated area, there is increasing risk to the civilian population.

BK: We've also heard of an OXFAM ambulance driver being killed, and the Red Cross says an ambulance station was hit. Would you say there has been an escalation in such incidents?

Gunness: I would certainly say that humanitarian access is a huge problem given the scale and widespread nature of this conflagration. It is incumbent upon the occupying power to give to international organizations like our own, proper humanitarian access. Ambulances must be given unfettered access to hospitals - the injured, the sick, the dying - whoever needs help from ambulances and assistance, have to have ambulances get to them. And this widespread violence is making it very, very difficult for that to happen.

BK: A lot of households have lost electricity since last Thursday. Do you know how many homes are affected this way?

Gunness: One million people in Gaza are without electricity, 250,000 people at least are without water. All the hospitals in the Gaza strip are functioning on emergency generators 24-hours a day, which means that if doctors are doing life-saving surgery, babies on incubators, whatever it might be - they are at serious risk tonight in Gaza. It is a humanitarian crisis and it is a crisis, which is deepening with every minute that goes past.

BK: I understand that also, as few as the aid supplies are, you can't distribute them all -- what is the situation with that?

Gunness: Well, that's correct. We couldn't do any food distributions today. The reason is that the man who owns the company that contracts out the trucks for our food distributions - around his compound there was an attack and two of his relatives were killed. There was then a wake house established and there was an attack near that house and it's understood that one of his relatives was badly wounded and he simply said - I cannot do these food distributions, when my workers and my relatives are in harm's way. And so for that reason, we tried - and people are being very brave - I pay tribute to our staff in Gaza, they are doing extraordinarily brave job, but the fact is that with this offensive, it is simply impossible in some place and very, very difficult in others for UNRWA to do its urgent humanitarian work.

PRES: Christopher Gunness is a spokesman for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees.

Producer: Bissera Kostova
(duration: 4'08")