AMMAN, Jordan

Jordan strongly condemned on Thursday Israeli airstrikes on a UN-run school in the central Gaza Strip as a “flagrant violation” of international law.

At least 18 people were killed in two Israeli strikes on al-Jaouni School, where around 12,000 displaced civilians have sheltered, in the Nuseirat refugee camp on Wednesday, according to local health authorities.

At least six staff members of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) were among the victims, including the manager of the UNRWA shelter in the area.

This attack was “a flagrant violation of the rules of international law,” the Jordanian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“Israel's continued violation of international law and international humanitarian law is nothing but a result of the absence of an effective and firm international position that ends this ongoing aggression on the Gaza Strip, and the killing, destruction and unprecedented humanitarian disaster it produces,” it added.

The ministry called the Israeli attack “inconsistent with human and moral values and with the rules of international law, especially the Geneva Convention” relative to the protection of civilians during the time of war.

It underlined the need to ensure the protection of civilians, vital facilities that provide basic services to Palestinians and humanitarian facilities and shelters.

The ministry called on the international community and the UN Security Council “to take immediate and decisive action to stop these crimes against the Palestinian people, provide them with the necessary protection, and fulfil their legitimate rights to establish their independent, sovereign state on the lines of June 4, 1967, with occupied Jerusalem as its capital."

Israel has systematically targeted civilian facilities, including schools, hospitals, and places of worship, amid its ongoing offensive on the Gaza Strip.

Under the rules of war, targeting such civilian facilities can constitute a war crime.

Last month, at least 100 people were killed and dozens injured in an Israeli strike on the Al-Taba'een School in Gaza City, where over 6,000 displaced people have sheltered.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza since a Hamas attack last October despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

More than 41,100 people, mostly women and children, have since been killed and over 95,100 injured, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel faces accusations of genocide for its actions in Gaza at the International Court of Justice.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar