UNRWA official fears “mass casualties” after Israeli tank shelling of one of its facilities in Khan Younis.

Several people were killed after a United Nations shelter in place GazaThe southern town of Khan Younis was shelled by Israeli forces, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in Gaza said.

“Two tank shells hit a building housing 800 people – reports currently leave nine dead and 75 injured,” Thomas White, Gaza director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), said in the social media platform X.

Update – Attack on Khan Younis Training Center this afternoon – two tank shells hit building housing 800 people – now 9 dead and 75 injured reported@UNRWA And @WHO Team tries to reach the center – route agreed with the Israeli army, blocked by earth wall #Gaza

– Thomas White (@TomWhiteGaza) January 24, 2024

In a separate post Wednesday, White said the training center housing displaced families was set on fire.

The death toll is expected to rise as the UN official said the incident likely caused “mass casualties”.

Rafah-based UNRWA spokesman Adnan Abu Hasna told Al Jazeera that the UN, in coordination with the Israeli army, was trying to send ambulances to the site.

He said the Israeli military gave no warning before the attack.

Due to the presence of Israeli tanks in the area, the agency has not been able to enter the site in the past 48 hours, Abu Hasna said, describing the situation as “very dangerous.”

“We tried to coordinate the withdrawal of internally displaced persons [internally displaced persons] “Unfortunately I didn’t succeed there,” he added.

Israel has continued to carry out heavy attacks on Khan Younis, including targeting medical facilities. Around 660 attacks on health facilities were recorded in Gaza.

“Fire everywhere”

Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Wednesday that the Israeli army had isolated the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis after it was destroyed circled and ground troops engaged in hand-to-hand combat with Hamas fighters.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) wrote down

Khan Younis was once known as “Security zone“for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who were evacuated from the northern parts and Gaza City at the start of the war.

Israeli soldiers advanced for the first time on Monday Al-Mawasi district near the Mediterranean coast west of Khan Younis.

Asmaa Abu Khudair, a Palestinian displaced from al-Mawasi to Rafah, said she fled intense bombardment in the area after the building next to hers was attacked by the Israeli military.

“Their planes started firing. Suddenly fireballs started falling on us,” she told Al Jazeera. “The whole area was on fire, fire everywhere. We started running, I pulled out one of my daughters, but I couldn’t find my other daughter.”

Abu Khudair said the flames had grown larger and she had to flee without her missing daughter. “Do you understand when I say fire?” she said through tears. “I have lost my daughter. My husband was in his brother’s tent.”

“The next day their bodies were recovered completely charred,” she added.

Since the war began on October 7, at least 25,700 people have been killed and 63,740 injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza.