KUALA LUMPUR: The United Nations (UN) secretary-general Antonio Guterres has reiterated his call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.
This comes after two UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) schools were bombed in less than 24 hours on Saturday.
Following this, Guterres said that UN premises should remain inviolable.
"I am deeply shocked that two UNRWA schools were struck in less than 24 hours in Gaza. Dozens of people, women and children, were killed and injured as they were seeking safety in UN premises.
"Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are also seeking shelter at UN facilities throughout Gaza due to the intensified fighting.
"Hence, I reaffirm that our premises are inviolable and I reiterate my call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire," he said in a statement on Sunday (Nov 19).
He added that the ongoing war is also having a staggering and unacceptable number of civilian casualties, including women and children, every day and it must stop.
On Saturday, more than 200 Palestinians were killed and injured in an Israeli bombing of the Al-Fakhoura School in the Jabalia Refugee camp and Tal Az-Zaatar School in the town of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip.
Yesterday, Hamas spokesperson Osama Hamdan said the Palestinian group is holding the United States (US) administration liable for the continuous attack by the Israeli's army, including in hospitals.
Hamdan said the massacres against Gaza civilians would not take place without the green light and carte blanche given by US President Joe Biden and his administration to the Israeli occupation forces.