– M Rafi Ahmed
The World Health Organisation accused Israel of attacking its site in central Gaza after the Israeli military expanded its operations in the city of Deir al-Balah, which until recently had been left relatively unscathed. Israel had spared Deir al-Balah because it believed that Hamas was holding Israeli and foreign hostages there, but that strategy appears to be changing.
An Israeli military official said that the strike took place after the staff was evacuated, and that Israeli forces had come under fire in the vicinity, leading them to respond. Notably, Deir al-Balah had been an informal refuge for Palestinians escaping other parts of Gaza, and huge tent camps have sprung up in the city. The city also hosts warehouses for the U.N. as well as guesthouses for UN staff.
Israel has levelled much of Gaza during the 21-month war. But Israeli forces had not previously launched a major assault on the city of Deir al-Balah, fearing that Hamas was holding Israeli and foreign hostages there. In recent days that seemed to be changing after the Israeli military ordered residents in parts of the city to leave. Some Palestinians hoped the warning over the weekend was a tactic to force Hamas to make concessions in cease-fire talks, but Israel has stepped up attacks in the area.
Israeli forces also entered the building, handcuffed and stripped male staff and family members sheltering there, and held them at gunpoint, the statement added. Women and children were forcibly evacuated, the agency said. Another WHO building, a major warehouse, was damaged in a separate attack and later looted by “desperate crowds,” the U.N. agency said.
The Israeli military said that its forces had come under fire while operating in the vicinity, leading them to respond “toward the area from which the shooting originated.” It did not deny raiding the W.H.O. facility but said any “suspects” had been treated “in accordance with international law.”
The Israeli military has launched strikes and ground operations around Deir al-Balah but has not advanced into the densely populated city centre, where some residents were already fleeing north. Yasser Rihan, 37, who left one of the evacuation zones on the southern outskirts of the city, said his family had huddled at home on Sunday night as airstrikes pummelled the area and gunfire echoed all around.
