A total of 205 UNRWA workers have been killed in the ongoing genocidal war on Gaza since October 7 last year.
Two Palestinians working for the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on their vehicle in the central Gaza Strip.
The Anadolu news agency cited a medical source at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah as saying that the UNRWA workers were killed after their vehicle was hit by the Israeli army in Deir al-Balah.
Gaza – Deir al-Balah, October 23, 2024: Three victims as a result of an Israeli airstrike targeting a vehicle belonging to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency
(UNRWA) on Salah al-Din Street in the southern Gaza Strip. pic.twitter.com/FTLYTWQ1Ap— Eye on Palestine (@EyeonPalestine) October 23, 2024
Witnesses told Anadolu that an Israeli drone struck a UNRWA vehicle on Salaheddin Street, resulting in the death of the two workers inside the vehicle.
UNRWA and the Israeli army are yet to comment on the incident, Anadolu said.
As of October 16, a total of 231 UNRWA workers have been killed in the ongoing genocidal war on Gaza since October 7 last year, according to UNRWA’s latest Situation Report.
‘Smell of Death’
On Tuesday, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said “SOS” was received from UNRWA staff in northern Gaza where nearly three weeks of “non-stop bombardments” from the Israeli forces continue.
“Our staff report they cannot find food, water or medical care. The smell of death is everywhere as bodies are left lying on the roads or under the rubble. Missions to clear the bodies or provide humanitarian assistance are denied,” Lazzarini said.
🆘🆘 from our @UNRWA staff in northern #Gaza.
Nearly three weeks of non-stop bombardments from the Israeli Forces as the death toll increases.
Our staff report they cannot find food, water or medical care.
The smell of death is everywhere as bodies are left lying on the roads…— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) October 22, 2024
He stressed that in northern Gaza, “people are just waiting to die. They feel deserted, hopeless and alone. They live from one hour to the next, fearing death at every second.”
Lazzarini said that throughout the war over the past year, “some UNRWA staff stayed in the north & did the impossible” to provide aid to internally displaced people.
“We kept some of our shelters open despite heavy bombardments & attacks on our buildings,” he emphasized.
Over 42,700 Killed
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
Thousands of children and women are now left homeless after being forcibly displaced from their homes in northern Gaza by the Israeli occupation army. pic.twitter.com/vbwTGhhm4o
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) October 23, 2024
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 42,792 Palestinians have, to date, been killed, and 100,412 wounded.
Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
Famine and Displacement
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
(PC, Anadolu)
