Over 38,000 Palestinians have sought shelter at dozens of UN schools across the Gaza Strip after being displaced by Israel's continued attacks, the UN said on Monday.
Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, said Israeli strikes on densely-populated coastal enclave have left more than 2,500 people homeless after their houses were destroyed, and damaged 41 educational facilities including a UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) vocational center and higher education facility.
Electricity has been reduced to just six to eight hours per day, resulting in ripple effects that have hindered healthcare and other services, including water and sanitation, Dujarric said.
The death toll from Israel's ongoing assault on Gaza reached 212 on Monday, according to the Gaza-based Palestinian Health Ministry. The grim figure includes 61 children, 35 women and 16 elderly people, the ministry said in a statement, while 1,400 people have been injured during the offensive.
The Israeli military has staged airstrikes across the Gaza Strip since May 10, leaving behind a massive trail of destruction across the seaside territory, including the leveling of several multi-story buildings.
Ten Israelis have also been killed in Palestinian rocket fire from the Gaza Strip into Israel.
Asked by an Anadolu Agency reporter about the creation of an international protection mechanism for Palestinian civilians, Dujarric said the UN's focus is "on getting an immediate cessation of hostilities, of getting humanitarian aid, and obviously trying to get a political process back on track."
"In terms of a mechanism that is something we'd have to see some sort of proposal from member states," he added.
