More than a dozen aid workers have been killed or gone missing in the Gaza Strip over the past few days, amid Israel’s complete blockade of humanitarian aid and its renewed military assault on the Palestinian enclave.
The United Nations’ agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, reported that eight staff members were killed in Gaza over the past week. The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said nine emergency medical technicians went missing since Sunday after Israeli forces fired on ambulances and fire trucks in Rafah.
Israel’s military claims it fired on the ambulances and fire trucks because they were being used as cover by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters. However, the PRCS says its teams were only able to start searching for the missing staff on Thursday after being denied access to the area.
The Israeli military has also been accused of targeting aid workers in other incidents. A World Central Kitchen (WCK) volunteer was killed in an Israeli strike near a community kitchen in Gaza on Thursday, while six others were injured as meals were being distributed.
The UN and aid groups accuse Israel of violating international law by blocking the flow of aid into Gaza and using starvation as a weapon of war. The agency’s Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini called for the ceasefire to resume and for Israel to lift its blockade on aid.
With over 50,000 Palestinians killed and 114,000 injured in the conflict since October 2023, hundreds of thousands are at risk of severe hunger and malnutrition. Community kitchens have been forced to close due to hostilities and energy shortages, leaving families with limited options for food.
The World Food Programme warned that its food stocks would not last more than two weeks, while UNRWA’s Lazzarini said parents are unable to find food for their children, hunger is increasing, and the risk of disease is spreading.
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/27/middleeast/aid-workers-killed-missing-gaza-israel-intl-latam/index.html