18 UN buildings have sustained damage, their schools are at over capacity with the displaced

Information reaching Kossyderrickent has it that 18 UN buildings have sustained damage, their schools are at over capacity with the displaced.

Nine UN employees have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza since the start of a bombardment Saturday, a UN agency said Wednesday.

“Nine UNRWA personnel (six staff and three contractors) were killed, while three teachers were injured,” the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said in a statement.

It said all UNRWA schools across the Gaza Strip, including the Rehabilitation Centre for Visually Impaired and the two vocational centers in Gaza and Khan Younis, remain closed.

“Two UNRWA schools were affected by airstrikes, bringing the total number of installations affected by the conflict to 20 since 7 October,” it added.

In a dramatic escalation of Mideast tensions, Israeli forces launched a sustained and forceful military campaign against the Gaza Strip in response to a military offensive by the Palestinian group Hamas in Israeli territories.

“The protection of civilians is paramount, including in times of conflict,” said Juliette Touma, director of communications of the agency, known as UNRWA. “They should be protected in accordance with the laws of war.”

Touma said the strikes killed the U.N. staffers at their homes across the territory. She also said that 18 UNRWA schools-turned-shelters were damaged in the bombing and that its headquarters in Gaza City was also damaged, without causing casualties.

On Tuesday, the United Nations said that over 260,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in the Gaza Strip, as heavy Israeli bombardments from the air, land, and sea continue to hit the Palestinian enclave.

“Over 263,934 people in Gaza are believed to have fled their homes,” said UN humanitarian agency OCHA said in an update Tuesday, warning that “this number is expected to rise further”.

It said that around 3,000 people had been displaced “due to previous escalations”, prior to Saturday.

The Israeli bombing campaign has destroyed more than 1,000 housing units, and 560 have been so severely damaged they are uninhabitable, OCHA said, citing Palestinian authorities.

Among the displaced, nearly 175,500 people sought shelter in 88 schools run by the UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, it said.

More than 14,500 others had fled to 12 government schools, while close to 74,000 were estimated to be staying with relatives and neighbors or seeking shelters in churches and other facilities.

The number of displaced people inside of Gaza “represents the highest number of people displaced since the 50-day escalation of hostilities in 2014,” it said.