GAZA: An UNRWA employee was killed in a strike on a vehicle in Gaza Wednesday, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said, the latest aid worker death in the war-torn territory.
“I can confirm that an UNRWA car was hit. One UNRWA colleague was killed,” UNRWA spokeswoman Juliette Touma told AFP.
An AFP photographer said the strike in the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis early on Wednesday killed two people in all.
At least 223 UNRWA staff have been killed and two-thirds of the agency’s facilities in Gaza damaged or destroyed since the war erupted early last year, its head, Philippe Lazzarini, said last month.
Many Gazans displaced by the fighting have sought shelter in UNRWA facilities including schools. Israel has conducted strikes on several of these schools-turned-shelter, accusing Hamas of using them as command centers — a charge denied by the Palestinian militant group.
Wednesday’s strike came as Israel moves to curb UNRWA’s activities, with the foreign affairs and defense committee of Israel’s parliament approving two bills earlier this month essentially aimed at ending the agency’s activity and privileges in Israel.
One bill seeks to prevent UNRWA from operating any institution or providing any services or activity in Israel. The second bill says that UNRWA workers will not enjoy the immunity or special rights enjoyed by other UN workers in Israel.
UNRWA and the wider humanitarian response to Israel’s military operations in Gaza have been a bone of contention in the conflict, with Israeli authorities accused of restricting aid flows.
The war in Gaza began with Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 42,792 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry which the UN considers reliable.
The agency saw funding cuts earlier this year after Israel accused a dozen of its 13,000 Gaza employees of involvement in the October 7 attack by Hamas.
An internal probe published in August found that nine employees “may have been involved in the armed attacks of 7 October.”
UNRWA was created in 1949 to support Palestinian refugees in the Middle East.
UN aid worker killed in Gaza strike
https://arab.news/zt7tf
UN aid worker killed in Gaza strike
- At least 223 UNRWA staff have been killed and two-thirds of the agency’s facilities in Gaza damaged or destroyed since the war erupted early last year
- UNRWA and the wider humanitarian response to Israel’s military operations in Gaza have been a bone of contention in the conflict
Ceasefire with Kurdish-led force extended for another 15 days, Syrian army says
- The defense ministry said the extension was in support of an operation by US forces to transfer accused Daesh militants to Iraq
- The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces confirmed the ceasefire extension
RAQQA, Syria: Hours after the expiration of a four-day truce between the Syrian government and Kurdish-led fighters Saturday, Syria’s defense ministry announced the ceasefire had been extended by another 15 days.
The defense ministry said in a statement that the extension was in support of an operation by US forces to transfer accused Daesh militants who had been held in prisons in northeastern Syria to detention centers in Iraq.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces confirmed the ceasefire extension.
“Our forces affirm their commitment to the agreement and their dedication to respecting it, which contributes to de-escalation, the protection of civilians, and the creation of the necessary conditions for stability,” the group said in a statement.
Over the past three weeks, there have been intense clashes between government forces and the SDF, in which the SDF lost large parts of the area they once controlled.
Earlier in the day, the Kurdish-led force called on the international community to prevent any escalation.
The end of the truce came as government forces have been sending reinforcements to Syria’s northeast.
Syria’s interim government signed an agreement last March with the SDF for it to hand over territory and to eventually merge its fighters with government forces. In early January, a new round of talks failed to make progress over the merger, leading to renewed fighting between the two sides.
A new version of the accord was signed last weekend, and a four-day ceasefire was declared Tuesday. Part of the new deal is that SDF members will have to merge into the army and police forces as individuals.
The SDF said in a statement Saturday that military buildups and logistical movements by government forces have been observed, “clearly indicating an intent to escalate and push the region toward a new confrontation.” The SDF said it will continue to abide by the truce.
On Saturday, state TV said authorities on Saturday released 126 boys under the age of 18 who were held at the Al-Aqtan prison near the northern city of Raqqa that was taken by government forces Friday. The teenagers were taken to the city of Raqqa where they were handed over to their families, the TV station said.
The prison is also home to some of the 9,000 members of the Daesh group who are held in northeastern Syria. Most of them remain held in jails run by the SDF. Government forces have so far taken control of two prisons while the rest are still run by the SDF.
Earlier this week, the US military said that some 7,000 Daesh detainees will be transferred to detention centers in neighboring Iraq.
On Wednesday, the US military said that 150 prisoners have been taken to Iraq.
