A REPORT by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) says that at least eight UN-run schools that have been providing shelter to displaced Palestinians have been attacked by Israeli forces in the past 10 days or so.

The report by the UN body comes as Hamas was forced to deny accusations by a rights group that it committed war crimes during its surprise attack on October 7 that prompted Israel’s full-scale invasion of Gaza, which it had previously held under an illegal siege for 17 years.

UNRWA says that 70 per cent of the agency’s schools in Gaza have been bombed, killing at least 539 Palestinians who had been seeking shelter.