ATHENS 

The UN workers should be protected, said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday after a deadly Israeli strike on UN staff in a Gaza school.

When asked about Wednesday's strikes on the UN-run school in Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, which killed at least 18 people, including the UN staff, Blinken said: “UN workers should be protected. We need to see humanitarian sites protected. We continue to raise this to Israel,” during his joint news conference in Warsaw with his Polish counterpart Radoslaw Sikorski.

He added that reaching an immediate cease-fire in Gaza is the best way to ensure the protection of the people and places.

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.