Escalation of Violence Hampers UN Aid to Gaza

GENEVA - United Nations agencies report difficulties in providing assistance to many of Gaza's two million residents amid escalating violence in Palestinian territory and Israel.

U.N. officials are expressing alarm at the rising number of casualties and suffering of civilians on both the Palestinian and Israeli sides of the conflict. The Gaza Ministry of Health says 119 Palestinians have been killed, including 31 children, and 830 people have been wounded. Seven people reportedly have been killed, including a six-year-old boy and a soldier, in Israel.  The U.N. office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said more than 200 housing units in densely populated areas of Gaza reportedly have been destroyed or severely damaged. OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke said the fighting has disrupted teaching in 31 education facilities, including schools, vocational training centers, and higher education facilities.  "Reports of hundreds of people, many from refugee camps in Gaza, seeking shelter in UNRWA (U.N. Relief and Works Agency) schools especially in the northern part of the strip. UNRWA says that it has experience in quickly turning its schools into shelters, but the challenge is the pandemic and the risk of people crowding and spreading the virus," Laerke said.