Palestinian Aid Agency UNRWA Says 207 of Its Staff Have Been Killed Since Gaza Conflict Emerged Last Year

UNRWA Shelter in Zawaida, Gaza Strip, Palestine. (Source: UN News/Ziad Taleb)

JAKARTA - The UN aid agency for Palestine announced on Monday that the number of its staff killed in the Gaza Strip since the latest conflict broke out last year continues to increase and comes from various backgrounds.

In its upload on social media, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said that the number of its staff killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023 has reached 207 people.

"They were engineers, teachers, medical staff. They were humanitarian workers. On World Humanitarian Day and every day, we remember and pay tribute to them all," the agency tweeted in its upload on social media X, as quoted on August 20.

The announcement came in conjunction with World Humanitarian Day, which falls on August 19 every year.

Previously, UNRWA on August 9 announced that 205 humanitarian workers had been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza since October 7.

Separately, medical sources in Gaza announced on Monday that at least 40 Palestinians were killed and 134 others injured by Israeli attacks in the past 24 hours, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA.

Meanwhile, local health authorities confirmed that the number of Palestinian fatalities due to Israeli attacks since October 7 has increased to 40,139, while 92,743 others were injured. The majority of the victims were women and children.

207 @UNRWA team members have been killed in #Gaza since the war began – including in the line of duty.

They were engineers, teachers, medical staff. They were humanitarian workers. On #WorldHumanitarianDay and every day we remember and pay tribute to them all.#ActForHumanity pic.twitter.com/NsPA98am88

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) August 19, 2024