Airstrike kills UN worker and more than 76 of his relatives
A UN aid worker and more than 70 members of his extended family were killed near Gaza City on Friday, the same day aid groups sharply criticized the UN Security Council for passing a resolution that did not call for a full ceasefire the firing in the besieged areas. enclave.
An Israeli airstrike killed Issam Al Mughrabi, who had worked for 30 years at the U.N. Development Program, his wife, his five children and more than 70 members of his extended family, said Achim Steiner, a U.N. administrator. development program, in a statement. rack.
“The loss of Issam and his family has deeply affected us all,” he said. “The UN and civilians in Gaza are not targets.”
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the report.
The attack that killed Mr Al Mughrabi underscored the extent of Israel’s ongoing bombardment of Gaza’s densely populated areas with heavy ammunition, which UN officials say is not only costing lives but also making it virtually impossible to distribute aid.
The bombardment is killing civilians at a devastating rate, with Gaza’s Health Ministry reporting that around 20,000 people have been killed in the past 77 days of fighting – the majority of them women and children. Bomb attacks can often claim almost the entire family. Areas designated as safe for civilians are routinely attacked by 2,000-pound bombs.
United Nations workers have also been murdered in large numbers. At least 136 employees of UNRWA – the organization that cares for Palestinian refugees and employs around 13,000 people in Gaza – have been killed in the conflict so far. It is the highest death toll in the history of the United Nations.
On Saturday morning, the Palestinian Health Ministry reported that around 200 people had been killed and another 368 injured by Israeli military operations since Friday.
Senior UN officials and many aid agencies have argued that a full ceasefire is needed to allow the distribution of aid to nearly 1.9 million displaced Palestinians, many of whom are facing the spread of disease, hunger and overwhelmed healthcare systems.
“The way Israel is carrying out its offensive is creating enormous obstacles to the distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a social media post on Friday.
The United States, alongside Israel, has opposed resolutions in the UN Security Council calling for a ceasefire, arguing that they would allow Hamas, the armed group that controls Gaza, to regroup and prevent future carry out attacks such as the October 11 massacres. 7 in Israel that fueled the current war.
Ultimately, the resolution passed Friday, with the United States abstaining, called for “urgent extended humanitarian pauses and corridors” to safely continue rescue and recovery efforts in Gaza, but did not call for a full ceasefire the-fire. fire, as many diplomats and authorities had hoped.