Doha: Human Rights Watch said that hundreds of Israeli attacks since October 2023 have struck over 500 school buildings, many used as shelters, killing hundreds of civilians and causing significant damage to nearly all of Gaza’s schools.
According to Qatar News Agency, the organization said in a statement that recent Israeli strikes on schools-turned-shelters are part of Israeli forces’ current military offensive that is demolishing much of Gaza’s remaining civilian infrastructure, displacing again hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, and worsening the already dire humanitarian situation.
The organization said that the Israeli forces’ deadly attacks on schools sheltering Palestinian civilians highlight the absence of safe places for displaced people, the vast majority of Gaza’s population. The Israeli attacks have denied civilians safe access to shelter and will contribute to the disruption of access to education for many years, as repair and reconstruction of schools can require significant resources and time.
Human Rights Watch said that governments should impose an arms embargo on the Israeli government and take other urgent measures to enforce the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Genocide Convention).