At least 20,363 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are seeking refuge in schools run by the United Nations Refugee and Work Agency (UNRWA) as Israel continues its operation in the enclave, the UNRWA said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
As of Saturday, 44 UNRWA schools, including 28 equipped for housing, have received displaced families from several provinces in Gaza, barring Khan Younis, the UN agency said on X.
The displaced population seeking shelter are primarily concentrated in northern Gaza, the eastern border, and southern Gaza, the UNRWA’s media advisor, Adnan Abu Hasna was reported as saying by the Palestinian state news agency (WAFA). Hasna expects the number to increase in the coming hours as the armed conflict continues.
As of Sunday, over 313 Palestinian deaths were reported with nearly 2,000 wounded.
For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
The Palestinian group Hamas launched the biggest attack on Israel in years on Saturday, killing hundreds and wounding several others in a surprise assault that combined gunmen crossing into Israel with a barrage of rockets fired from Gaza.
The Israeli military said it had responded with airstrikes into Gaza, where witnesses reported hearing heavy explosions and multiple dead being carried into hospitals.
The attack marked an unprecedented infiltration into Israel by an unknown number of Hamas gunmen crossing from the Gaza Strip, and the heaviest blow for Israel in the conflict with Palestinians since the suicide bombings of the Second Intifada some two decades ago.