Al Jaouni school was built by the UN to educate a few hundred teenage boys in the central Gaza Strip. In recent months, the blue, three-storey building has come to house 12,000 Gazans seeking shelter from the relentless barrage of Israeli air strikes that have levelled most of the strip since last October. On Wednesday, the school itself was made a target – for the fifth time since the war began – when Israel’s military said it carried out a “precise strike on terrorists” planning attacks from its grounds.
Even if the strike were intended to be “precise” – an odd descriptor for firing a missile at a compound housing 12,000 people – it manifestly was not. Of the 18 people killed, six were Palestinian employees of the UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
The attack is a particularly disturbing moment for the agency’s humanitarian operations in the Palestinian enclave. It resulted in the highest death toll among UNRWA staff in a single incident since the Gaza war began. It also brings the total number of UNRWA personnel killed to 220. Many of them were killed in attacks on schools; Israel has bombed 70 per cent of all UNRWA schools in Gaza since October. The agency says about one in 75 Gazans killed were sheltering in one of its facilities at the time of their death.
Even if militants were using some part of Al Jaouni school to plan an attack, targeting the compound would almost certainly breach international humanitarian law, which allows for civilian and humanitarian facilities to be attacked in only the most extreme circumstances. The frequency with which the Israeli army attacks UNRWA schools, in particular, suggests a cavalier approach to distinguishing between military and civilian targets.
Targeting the compound would almost certainly violate international humanitarian law
“These dramatic violations of international humanitarian law need to stop now,” Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary General, wrote on social media on Thursday.
The attack occurred on the penultimate day of a polio vaccination drive, in which UN personnel and other aid workers have sought to inoculate more than half a million Gazan children in under a fortnight. The operating environment for these workers is extremely difficult even without the threat of air strikes. On Monday, Israeli soldiers halted a UN convoy involved in the vaccination drive and detained two staff members for questioning, despite the convoy’s movements having been cleared with the Israeli military in advance.
The UN’s humanitarian co-ordinator, Muhannad Hadi, said shots were fired during the incident, UN vehicles were damaged by bulldozers and “the convoy remained held at gunpoint while senior-level UN officials engaged with the Israeli authorities to de-escalate the situation”. The convoy eventually turned back without being able to carry out its mission.
The longer Israel’s war in Gaza drags on, the worse the humanitarian crisis Gazans are experiencing becomes. The stress on the strip’s already-limited humanitarian infrastructure is deepening as a result. Every month, the number of available facilities – not just shelters, but hospitals and distribution points – is shrinking, and the number of dead aid workers is growing. The situation must not be allowed to continue. So much has already been taken away from Gazans – without a functioning aid sector, what else do they have left?
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder MHEV
Power: 360bhp
Torque: 500Nm
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Price: from Dh282,870
On sale: now
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Lamsa
Founder: Badr Ward
Launched: 2014
Employees: 60
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: EdTech
Funding to date: $15 million
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
SERIE A FIXTURES
Saturday Spezia v Lazio (6pm), Juventus v Torino (9pm), Inter Milan v Bologna (7.45pm)
Sunday Verona v Cagliari (3.30pm), Parma v Benevento, AS Roma v Sassuolo, Udinese v Atalanta (all 6pm), Crotone v Napoli (9pm), Sampdoria v AC Milan (11.45pm)
Monday Fiorentina v Genoa (11.45pm)
Globalization and its Discontents Revisited
Joseph E. Stiglitz
W. W. Norton & Company
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Know your Camel lingo
The bairaq is a competition for the best herd of 50 camels, named for the banner its winner takes home
Namoos - a word of congratulations reserved for falconry competitions, camel races and camel pageants. It best translates as 'the pride of victory' - and for competitors, it is priceless
Asayel camels - sleek, short-haired hound-like racers
Majahim - chocolate-brown camels that can grow to weigh two tonnes. They were only valued for milk until camel pageantry took off in the 1990s
Millions Street - the thoroughfare where camels are led and where white 4x4s throng throughout the festival
Seven%20Winters%20in%20Tehran
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%20%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Steffi%20Niederzoll%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Reyhaneh%20Jabbari%2C%20Shole%20Pakravan%2C%20Zar%20Amir%20Ebrahimi%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
About Karol Nawrocki
• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.
• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.
• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.
• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
What is the Supreme Petroleum Council?
The Abu Dhabi Supreme Petroleum Council was established in 1988 and is the highest governing body in Abu Dhabi’s oil and gas industry. The council formulates, oversees and executes the emirate’s petroleum-related policies. It also approves the allocation of capital spending across state-owned Adnoc’s upstream, downstream and midstream operations and functions as the company’s board of directors. The SPC’s mandate is also required for auctioning oil and gas concessions in Abu Dhabi and for awarding blocks to international oil companies. The council is chaired by Sheikh Khalifa, the President and Ruler of Abu Dhabi while Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, is the vice chairman.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster who has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
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Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Brief scores:
Barcelona 3
Pique 38', Messi 51 (pen), Suarez 82'
Rayo Vallecano 1
De Tomas Gomez 24'
