On the 75th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions, the war in Gaza resonates.

Rules that were adopted to guide conduct in conflicts after World War II are as relevant as ever 75 years after the ratification of these directives, known as the Geneva Conventions. But debate rages about the global community’s commitment to them.

“Seventy-five years ago today, the Geneva Conventions were put in place to protect civilians in times of wars,” Philippe Lazzarini, chief of the United Nations agency for Palestinians, known as UNRWA, wrote in a post on social media on Monday to note the anniversary of their adoption.

The rules are meant to limit the devastating impact of wars and everyone ostensibly agrees on them, he added. But he said that the rules “have been blatantly broken” on a daily basis in Gaza by both the Israeli military and Palestinian armed groups, including Hamas. And he accused United Nations member states of failing “in their responsibilities to respect the conventions and ensure that parties to the conflict respect them under all circumstances.”

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, in a statement on the anniversary, recalled the “tragedies” of World War II that led to their ratification and called on all nations to reaffirm their commitment to respecting those rules. “Faced with the horrible reality of war, parties to armed conflict must comply with international humanitarian law to mitigate many of war’s worst humanitarian consequences, support pathways to peace, and advance the protection of civilians and other victims,” he said.

The comments came after an Israeli strike on a former school compound in northern Gaza on Saturday killed dozens of Palestinians, drawing international censure. Gazan health authorities, who do not distinguish between militants and civilians in reporting casualties in the war, said more than 100 people had been killed.

The Israeli military defended the attack, as it has numerous other strikes throughout the war, arguing that Hamas and other militants were using schools, hospitals and homes in Gaza City as military command centers in violation of international humanitarian law, and that Israel had conducted precise strikes based on intelligence. On Monday, in a statement, the military said that it had identified 31 militants “so far” from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad who had been killed in the operation.