An unreleased report from a United Nations (UN) crisis coordination center has revealed that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) killed at least 195 UN staff and 172 of their dependents in Gaza.
According to the unreleased report obtained by the Drop Site news outlet on July 24, the IDF has killed five dependents from the UN Development Program, four from the UN International Children's Emergency Fund, three from the World Food Program and two from the World Health Organization. Meanwhile, a mind-boggling 158 dependents from the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) were killed by Israeli forces during their relentless assault on Gaza. (Related: UNICEF REPORT: Child casualties in West Bank surged by 250% since Israel’s war began in October.)
This tragic data comes in the wake of a May report, which revealed that 188 UNRWA staff members had been killed.
However, the extent of familial casualties had not been detailed at the time. The UN defines dependents as individuals within a staff member's family who are formally recognized as financially reliant on that staff member. The report revealed that by the end of June, at least 195 UN staff and 172 of their dependents had lost their lives.
These figures are the first to quantify the extent of familial casualties caused by Israel's indiscriminate attack on Gaza and were circulated internally within UN offices on July 1, just before the International Court of Justice first declared Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories illegal and called for the dismantling of all illegal settlements.
Israeli forces continue to attack UN staff and their families in different locations in Gaza
Even after the revelations in the UN report, Israeli attacks on UN staff persisted. For instance, on July 21, UNWRA Communications Director Juliette Touma reported to UN News that the IDF fired upon a UN convoy despite prior coordination.
"Just before the Israeli control checkpoint in Wadi Gaza, there was heavy shooting. One of the cars received at least five bullets. It was very badly damaged. It had to leave the convoy," said Touma. "Every movement like that is coordinated very closely with the Israelis. We are very lucky that we don't have any casualties among our staff. Everybody was shaken, however. Despite that, the team decided to continue up north and they reached their destination. It shouldn't be like this. Humanitarian workers must be protected at all times. Period."
This incident followed a deadly airstrike on July 14, where an Israeli airstrike on the UNRWA-run Abu Oreiban school in central Gaza's Nuseirat Camp resulted in the deaths of at least 15 displaced Palestinians and injuries of over 70. The director of Al-Awda Hospital claimed that 70 percent of the casualties were women and children.
Just a day before, on July 13, an airstrike in southern Gaza's Al-Mawasi killed at least 90 people and injured hundreds. Similarly, on July 10, four schools were targeted by Israeli forces and on July 7, Israeli forces killed 16 and injured 50 others, including children, after bombing a UNRWA school.
Reports have also surfaced of UNRWA staff being tortured in Israeli detention centers.
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