Deaths of UN personnel in Gaza are “something never seen before”, warns Guterres

NIn a post on the social network their lives by supporting civilians in Gaza.”

Guterres’ statement came on Friday, hours after the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) announced the death of one of its employees and his family in the Palestinian enclave.

“We are deeply saddened to announce the death of our colleague Issam Al Mughrabi and his family, killed in an air strike in Gaza”, declared the UNDP, on the social network X.

“He will be remembered as a beloved member of our team,” the UN program added.

The agency recalled that “the United Nations and civilians in Gaza are not targets” of the current conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.

At least 18 people died on Friday after the Israeli army bombed a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp, in the center of the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.

The attack by the Israel Defense Forces, which took place in the east of the refugee camp, also left dozens injured, according to local sources cited by the agency.

Also on Friday, during another offensive, Israeli planes destroyed a water desalination plant in the city of Jabalia, in the north of the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian Red Crescent also denounced another “heavy bombing” near Al Amal Hospital, in the city of Khan Younis.

Israel declared war on Hamas, in retaliation for the October 7 attack carried out by the group on Israeli territory, which left 1,139 dead, most of them civilians, according to the most recent report by Israeli authorities.

Around 250 people were also kidnapped that day and taken to Gaza, 128 of whom are still held captive by the movement, considered a terrorist organization by the European Union, the United States and Israel.

The Israeli offensive by land, sea and air has already caused more than twenty thousand deaths, including eight thousand children and 6,200 women, and 52,600 injured, according to figures from local authorities controlled by Hamas, and around 1.9 million displaced people, according to the UN.

Around 130 hostages remain in captivity in Palestinian territory, where the displaced population survives in tents in the middle of winter and in a deep humanitarian crisis.

Read Also: “The way Israel conducts the offensive creates obstacles” to humanitarian aid