Israel Targeted 256 Shelters in Gaza, Including Over 11 in June: Authorities

The Israeli military has targeted 256 shelters for displaced families in the Gaza Strip since October 2023, including more than 11 in June alone, amid ongoing threats of forced displacement issued by Israel for several areas of Gaza.

According to Gaza’s Government Media Office on Monday, the Israeli military has targeted and bombed 256 shelters housing more than 700,000 dispalced people since the start of the genocide. In June alone, Israeli forces targeted over 11 shelters.

Most of these shelters are schools housing displaced families, including government schools and UNRWA schools that were originally intended to provide learning environments for tens of thousands of students, but have instead been turned into bombing targets by the Israeli occupation, in flagrant violation of all humanitarian and international legal standards, the Office added.

Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for the Civil Defense, stated that Israel focuses on civilians and shelters in the Gaza Strip in its airstrikes. He continued, “The policy of killing persists to this moment, and the targeting of shelters, civilians, hospitals, displaced persons, and homes continues systematically by the Israeli occupation, which is destroying all means of life.”

Since launching its assault on Gaza, the Israeli military has issued dozens of forced displacement orders to Palestinians in the war-torn enclave amid intense bombardment and months-long blockade on aid.

As of June 13, according to OCHA, people in Gaza are confined to ever-shrinking spaces, with 82 per cent of the Gaza Strip now within the Israeli-militarized zone, under displacement orders, or where these overlap. The UN estimates that nearly 665,000 people have been displaced yet again since March 18, including over 227,000 between 15 May and 11 June.