UNRWA announce death of over 100 of its employees in Gaza

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) announced on Friday that more than 100 of its employees have been killed in the Gaza Strip during the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas for over a month.

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini expressed his "deep sorrow" on X, adding, "More than 100 of our UNRWA colleagues have been confirmed killed during one month. Families, teachers, nurses, doctors, support teams."

On its website, UNRWA indicates that the exact number of casualties is 100 employees who have fallen in the Gaza Strip since October 7th, when Hamas launched its unprecedented attack in Israeli territories, resulting in 1,400 deaths, mostly civilians.

In response to the attack, Israel declared war "to eliminate" Hamas. The Israeli airstrikes have resulted in more than 11,000 deaths, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry affiliated with Hamas.

Martin Griffiths, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, commented on UNRWA's announcement on X, saying, "I feel deep sadness for this extremely tragic news. These colleagues have been a beacon of hope and humanity."

He added, "Our thoughts are with their families and all our brave UNRWA colleagues."

In honor of the UN employees who lost their lives in Gaza, the organization plans to observe a minute of silence on Monday at all its centers worldwide at 09:30 local time in each country.

The organization's spokesperson in Geneva, Rolando Gomez, announced during a press conference that "the Secretary-General has called on the staff ... to observe a minute of silence," and the UN flags will be lowered at UN headquarters.

AFP