UN reports facilities hit, Gaza guesthouse raided by 'Israel'
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Israeli forces strike and raid UN guesthouses in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, as over 50,000 displaced civilians face intensified military operations.
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The impact of a projectile is visible on the wall of the U.N. guesthouse, where United Nations workers were located when the building was struck in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, Wednesday, March 19, 2025 (AP)
The United Nations reported on Monday that two of its guesthouses in central Gaza were either struck or came under attack, including a raid by Israeli forces on a World Health Organization staff residence, as the military advanced into an area where over 50,000 people had sought refuge from the ongoing bombardment that has lasted for months.
The head of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, stated that the agency’s guesthouse in Deir al-Balah had been hit three times before Israeli troops stormed the facility, separating families and dividing men from women, with men reportedly subjected to strip searches and interrogations at gunpoint while women and children were forced to evacuate under military orders.
WHO condemned "in the strongest terms the attacks on a building housing WHO staff in Deir al Balah, in the middle area of Gaza, the mistreatment of those sheltering there, and the destruction of its main warehouse."
WHO operations compromised following attacks on warehouse and facility sheltering staff and families in Gaza
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) July 21, 2025
WHO condemns in the strongest terms the attacks on a building housing WHO staff in Deir al Balah, in the middle area of Gaza, the mistreatment of those sheltering there,… pic.twitter.com/CWe68tNiX9
The Israeli military did not respond to repeated requests by The Washington Post for comments regarding the incidents. However, according to a UN official, who spoke anonymously due to the sensitive nature of the situation, an initial internal assessment suggested that the attacks on the WHO guesthouse, which occurred shortly after noon local time, were from incoming Israeli fire.
Even after the UN demanded the Israeli military hold fire to ensure evacuation, a quadcopter drone entered the guesthouse and exploded, the official said.
UN guesthouse struck for second time
In another incident in Deir al-Balah, a key hub for UN and other aid organizations, a guesthouse operated by the UN Office for Project Services was hit while 13 staff members were inside, the agency reported, adding that Israeli tanks had previously targeted the same location in March, killing a veteran staff member.
The Israeli ground offensive into Deir al-Balah marks the Israeli military's deepest push into central Gaza during the 21-month war, with Army Radio reporting that Golani Brigade troops moved into the city's southern neighborhoods following preliminary airstrikes and artillery fire as part of an alleged "targeted" operation to intensify pressure on Hamas.
This comes as Gaza faces a continuously worsening humanitarian crisis due to the Israeli blockade on aid entering the Strip since March 2.
UN warns of deepening humanitarian crisis
On July 21, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) reported receiving increasingly desperate hunger-related pleas from its Gaza staff as the humanitarian crisis worsens, with the agency describing rapidly escalating malnutrition and starvation reaching unprecedented severity levels.
Over two million Gazans lack food and essentials, with medics and aid groups like Doctors Without Borders reporting surging malnutrition, especially in children, as healthcare collapses and aid access remains blocked.
Gaza Municipality warned on July 21 that the city's main northern desalination plant had ceased operations because of fuel shortages and ongoing Israeli shelling, cutting off clean water supplies and exacerbating the region's severe water crisis.
Gaza's water crisis has worsened dramatically after the shutdown of the Mekorot line, a critical external water source, with municipal authorities confirming the failure of the main supply system that previously served extensive parts of the city.
