52,000 displaced in Gaza, says UN

More than 52,000 Palestinians have been displaced by Israeli airstrikes that have destroyed or badly damaged nearly 450 buildings in the Gaza Strip, the UN aid agency said on Tuesday.

In a separate statement on the conflict, rights group Amnesty International said Israel air strikes on residential buildings might amount to war crimes.

Israel maintains it hits only legitimate military targets and that it does all it can to avoid civilian casualties.

About 47,000 of the displaced people have sought shelter in 58 Un-run schools in Gaza, Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Geneva, told reporters.

Laerke said 132 buildings had been destroyed and 316 had been severely damaged, including six hospitals and nine primary healthcare centres as well a desalination plant, affecting access to drinking water for about 250,000 people.

The UN agency welcomed the fact that Israel had opened a border crossing for humanitarian supplies but called for another crossing to also be opened.

There is a severe shortage of medical supplies, a risk of waterborne diseases and the spread of Covid-19 because of displaced people crowding into schools, said Margaret Harris, a spokeswoman for the World Health Organization (WHO).

London-based Amnesty International called for an investigation into airstrikes on residential buildings in Gaza. “Israeli forces have displayed a shocking disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians by carrying out a number of airstrikes... causing wanton destruction to civilian property, in attacks that may amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity,” Amnesty said.