Gaza : devastating to confirm the deaths of two additional UNRWA colleagues and 8 Palestinian Red Crescent aid workers and first responders.
This brings the death toll of aid workers killed to 408 among them more than 280 UNRWA staff since the war began 1.5 years ago.
The body of our colleague killed in Rafah was retrieved yesterday, together with the aid workers from Palestine RCS all of them discarded in shallow graves - a profound violation of human dignity.
These were humanitarian workers.
Whether on the front line, or in their homes with their families, civilians must be protected at all time.
Targeting or endangering emergency responders, journalists or humanitarian workers is a flagrant and severe disregard of international law.
In Gaza, these killings have become routine.
This cannot become the new norm.
There must be accountability.
International humanitarian law applies to all, without exception.
UNRWA is the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. The United Nations General Assembly established UNRWA in 1949 with a mandate to provide humanitarian assistance and protection to registered Palestine refugees in the Agency's area of operations pending a just and lasting solution to their plight.
UNRWA operates in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, The Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
Tens of thousands of Palestine refugees who lost their homes and livelihoods due to the 1948 conflict continue to be displaced and in need of support, nearly 75 years on.
UNRWA helps Palestine Refugees achieve their full potential in human development through quality services it provides in education, health care, relief and social services, protection, camp infrastructure and improvement, microfinance, and emergency assistance. UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions.
