UN ambassador criticizes Israel for ‘preventable’ deaths of UNRWA workers

The United States’ Ambassador to the United Nations is expressing frustration with the Israeli military following strikes that killed multiple UN-aligned personnel in the region.

Amb. Linda Thomas-Greenfield spoke out at the U.N. Security Council meeting on Monday, where she lamented the “preventable” loss of life caused by the conflict.

“We will continue to raise the need for Israel to facilitate humanitarian operations, and protect humanitarian workers and facilities, such as the UNRWA school targeted by the IDF last week in Nusseirat,” Thomas-Greenfield said.

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UNRWA refers to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. 

She continued, “We have also been unequivocal in communicating to Israel that there is no basis – absolutely none – for its forces to be opening fire on clearly marked UN vehicles, as recently occurred on numerous occasions.”

A former school converted into a UNRWA civilian shelter was struck last week by the Israeli Defense Forces, killing 18 people. Six of those killed were UNRWA personnel.

The Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, previously rebuked criticism of the strike on the UNRWA shelter, asserting that the entire agency has become overrun with terrorists and terrorist sympathizers — including personnel at the destroyed shelter.

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Israeli soldiers take up position next to buildings destroyed by the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

“How long will the U.N. continue to bury its head in the sand and ignore the fact that Hamas terrorists have taken over UNRWA?” Danon asked this week. “Those who were killed yesterday (Wednesday) in the IDF strike were nine terrorists with blood on their hands, and some of them participated in the barbaric massacre on October 7.”

Danon provided a list of names ostensibly connecting known Hamas terrorists to the civilian shelter.

When approached by Fox News Digital, Juliette Touma, a UNRWA spokesperson, claimed that “Israeli authorities have not requested UNRWA officially to provide them with the list of staff killed in yesterday’s…