The attacks on the UN shelter for displaced people in Khan Younes in the southern Gaza Strip are a “gross violation of the basic rules of war,” a UN official said on Wednesday, as quoted by AFP.

According to Thomas White, director of the UN Refugee Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza, “two tanks hit a building that housed 800 people” in Khan Younes. He reported the first count of “nine dead and 75 injured” on X (formerly Twitter).

The head of UNRWA, Philip Lazzarini, condemned “another gross violation of the basic rules of war.”

The shelter-turned-training center is “clearly marked as a UN structure and its coordinates have been given to the Israeli authorities,” added Philip Lazzarini, head of the UN’s Palestine Refugee Agency (Unrwa), on X (formerly Twitter). saying that the death toll of nine reported by another official was “probably higher.”

The Israeli military said it had “encircled” Khan Younes, where it has stepped up operations against the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.

The United States “condemned” the attack on the UN shelter on Wednesday

“We deplore today’s attack on the UN center in Khan Younes,” Deputy State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters, adding that “the function of protecting UN objectives must be respected.”

“You’ve heard me say it before, you’ve heard the Secretary of State (Anthony Blinken) say it, but civilians must be protected and the protection function of UN facilities must be respected,” the spokesman added.

“And aid workers must be protected so they can continue to provide civilians with the vital humanitarian assistance they need,” he added.

Asked whether the United States had been in contact with Israel, which it strongly supports, about the attack, he declined to elaborate, but said Washington would continue to “raise these difficult and very difficult issues with the Israeli government.” “.