A United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) employee was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a vehicle in Gaza on Wednesday, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees confirmed, marking the latest death of an aid worker in Israel’s relentless strike in Gaza.
“I can confirm that an UNRWA car was hit. One UNRWA colleague was killed,” UNRWA spokeswoman Juliette Touma said.
According to an AFP photographer, the strike in the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis early Wednesday morning claimed the lives of two people.
Since the beginning of the Israeli onslaught in Gaza early last year, at least 223 UNRWA staff have been killed, and two-thirds of the agency’s facilities in the region have been damaged or destroyed, according to the agency’s chief, Philippe Lazzarini, last month.
Many displaced Gazans have sought refuge in UNRWA-run facilities, including schools. However, Israel has targeted some of these schools, accusing Hamas of using them as command centres—a charge the Palestinian group denies.
The strike comes due to increasing tension over UNRWA’s role as Israel moves to curtail the agency’s operations. Earlier this month, Israel’s parliament approved two bills aimed at limiting UNRWA’s activities and privileges within Israel. One bill seeks to prevent the agency from running institutions or providing services in Israel, while the other aims to strip UNRWA workers of the immunity granted to other UN employees in the country.
The recent Israeli invasion in Gaza erupted after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,206 people, primarily civilians, according to a tally based on Israeli official figures.
Israel’s subsequent retaliatory strikes have killed over 42,792 people in Gaza, the majority women and children, according to the Palestine Health Ministry. The United Nations considers these figures credible.
Earlier this year, UNRWA faced funding cuts following Israel’s accusations that some of its Gaza employees were involved in the October 7 Hamas attack. An internal investigation published in August found that nine employees “may have been involved in the armed attacks of October 7.”
UNRWA was founded in 1949 to assist Palestinian refugees throughout the Middle East.