UN urges Israel to abide by law; Israel claims compliance with law
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has said that wars have rules, abiding by which Israel should not be targeting civilians, hospitals, schools and UN premises.
"Wars have rules. Civilians, hospitals, schools, clinics & UN premises cannot be a target," the UNRWA said in a statement.
Earlier, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday that the relocation of Gaza residents from the north to the south as ordered by the Israeli military is extremely dangerous. However, he stopped short of calling on Israel to halt its assault on the besieged territory but said "even wars have rules".
Meanwhile, Israel's envoy to the UN claims that it has been complying with the International Humanitarian Law'.
On the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter), Meirav Eilon Shahar, Israel's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, said the Israeli army takes "every feasible precaution available to mitigate unintended civilian harm, including warning of operations that may cause harm to civilians, in Arabic, through media, social media, dropping leaflets, civic and international organisations.
"Under IHL (International Humanitarian Law), warnings should be effective and in advance."
Her comments came in response to the World Health Organization (WHO) director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus's plea to Israel to "reconsider the decision to evacuate 1.1 million people."
Besides, The UNRWA also said its shelters in Gaza "are not safe anymore", calling it "unprecedented" and also warned of water running out for the besieged enclave's residents.
"We are sparing no effort to advocate with parties to the conflicts to meet their obligations under international law to protect civilians including those seeking refuge in UNRWA shelters," the UN agency added.
More than 320 Palestinians have been killed in the past 24 hours, including many women and children killed in Israeli air raids on convoys fleeing Gaza City, according to health officials.