The center affiliated with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Middle East (UNRWA) was attacked on Wednesday, according to Thomas White, the agency's director.
– He said that artillery shells from two tanks hit the building in which 800 people live.
The building is located in the city of Khan Yunis. The director reported that the buildings were on fire and that there were many casualties.
– Safe access to and from the center has not been possible for two days, and people are trapped, White says.
Fierce fighting in Khan Yunis
Fierce fighting took place on Wednesday in Khan Yunis, the second largest city in the Gaza Strip. There are hundreds of sick people and thousands of displaced people in this area.
Israel asked residents to leave areas of the city, including Nasser Hospital and several other health buildings. According to the United Nations, 88,000 Palestinians live in this area, in addition to 425,000 displaced people after the fighting in the Gaza Strip.
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MSF health workers at Nasser Hospital said on Tuesday that attacks near the hospital were so strong that the ground was shaking, and that it was not possible to safely evacuate patients and staff because all roads were closed.
Two-thirds of them were displaced in the Gaza Strip
UN figures show that 1.5 million people, about two-thirds of Gaza's population, live close together in refugee camps in and around Rafah. Rafah is located on the border with Egypt, and even there Palestinians are exposed to attacks by Israeli forces.
A total of 1.7 people have been displaced from their homes in the Gaza Strip since October, according to the United Nations Relief Organization for Palestine Refugees. Most of them fled the northern areas, where most of the homes, buildings and infrastructure were razed in the wake of the Israeli attacks.
From Tuesday to Wednesday alone, 210 Palestinians were killed, and the total number of Palestinians killed since October is 25,700, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. The United Nations is concerned that more people will die as a result of disease, and that a quarter of the population is at risk of famine.
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