Juliette Touma, a spokesperson for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees, told US newspaper The Washington Post that Israel has hit 70 per cent of the agency’s schools since the outbreak of the Gaza bombardment, the majority of which were being used as shelters for displaced Palestinians at the time they were attacked.

According to Al Jazeera, Touma said that the Israeli army has started immediately releasing statements after such attacks, claiming that the buildings are being used by Hamas fighters and that attacking them is justified.

“These are very serious claims,” she said. “We have no way to confirm or deny these claims, nor do we have the ability to investigate. What we do know is that every time these schools or buildings are hit, we’ve had civilians hit, women and children.”