UN humanitarian workers in the Gaza Strip are facing imminent humanitarian disaster, with a total of 101 employees of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) having been confirmed killed since Oct. 7, according to UNRWA’s spokesman on Monday.
In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Adnan Abu Hasna, media advisor of UNRWA in Gaza said, “There is no safe place in Gaza,” even U.N. workers are facing threat of death.
“It is a clear message that there is no safe place in Gaza. It is the biggest number of the humanitarian workers ever you know had been killed in a month, you know, nearly. It is a message also that UNRWA continues to work and will continue to work in order to serve Palestine [Palestinian] refugees despite all the danger and the killing and the injuries that [are] even looming around its staff,” said Hasna.
Hasna then revealed that 70 percent of UNRWA installations have been impacted by Israeli shellings in southern Gaza, a place that should have been considered as “safe.”
“And we’re seeing that 60 of our installations and shelters had been impacted directly or indirectly, and nearly 66 of displaced people had been killed and 600 also had been injured. Seventy percent of our installation had been impacted during, you know, the shelling. It is in the southern part of Gaza that it should be a safe zone or safe place. But unfortunately it’s not true,” said Hasna.
Hasna also said that in less than 48 hours, the U.N.’s Palestinian refugee agency’s operations in Gaza will have to be shut down due to fuel shortages.
Militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7, firing thousands of rockets and infiltrating Israeli territory, to which Israel responded with massive airstrikes, ground operations and punitive measures, including a siege on the Gaza Strip with supplies of water, electricity, fuel and other necessities being cut off.
At least 11,240 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli bombardments on the Gaza Strip since the outbreak of the latest round of conflict — including thousands of women, children and elderly.
The death toll on the Israeli side has reached more than 1,400.
(Reuters)