Israel attacks on UN shelters appalling: UNRWA

The EU headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Brussels has labeled Israel’s attacks on its humanitarian aid shelters in Gaza as “appalling,” Press TV reports.

UNRWA European Union office director, Matthias Burchard, says Israel knew the exact location of the UN premises before their “latest terrible attack in south Gaza, Rafah,” as the GPS coordinates were communicated to Israel 33 times.

“They are appalling. They have been communicated with in the last years, whenever there was a crisis or war situation, multiple times,” he told the Press TV correspondent in Brussels.

Burchard also said that at the moment UNRWA’s foremost concern is the 1.1 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, whose daily survival needs depend on the world body.

According to Palestinian Economy Ministry sources, Israel’s aerial and ground offensive in the besieged Gaza Strip is estimated to have cost the Palestinian territory at least $4.6 billion in damage.

On Tuesday, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) strongly denounced the Israeli forces for leaving a massive trail of destruction in civilian sites across the besieged Gaza Strip.

So far, about 1,900 people have been killed and over 9,500 others injured by the Israeli regime’s massive offensive that began on July 8.

Israeli warplanes pounded numerous sites in the Gaza Strip, demolishing houses and burying families under the rubble. Israeli forces also began a ground offensive against the impoverished Palestinian land on July 17.

A three-day truce took effect at 8 a.m. (0500 GMT) on Tuesday and Israeli troops withdrew from the coastal enclave.