UNRWA loses touch with many staff in Gaza, learning of deaths
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UNRWA Chief of Staff Ben Majekodunmi revealed that 135 children of UNRWA staff have been murdered in Gaza.
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Palestinian children navigate heavy damage to a UNRWA school sheltering displaced persons the day after a nearby house was targeted by Israeli bombardment in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, June 21, 2024 (AP Photo /Jehad Alshrafi)
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has lost contact with several of its Gaza Strip staff members and is gradually learning of their deaths, UNRWA Chief of Staff Ben Majekodunmi told Sputnik.
According to the official, the agency does not know how many workers are missing because it is "impossible" to contact them, citing over 13,000 staff members in Gaza.
He explained that "communication is very limited. Many of our employees can not work, in particular, because all schools are closed since October 7, or because they are taking care of their children."
"Over 205 UNRWA employees have died in Gaza as we are gradually receiving information on casualties. For instance, recently we have learned about the death of our colleague killed in January," the official said.
Majekodunmi added that 135 children of UNRWA staff have been murdered in Gaza.
He explained that although there is usually no count of such specific numbers, "every time we receive data on the death of an employee, we learn that they were killed together with their children," adding that the agency does not know exactly how many other children of other UN staff have been killed.
According to UNRWA's X account, at least 207 UNRWA team members have been murdered in the Gaza Strip since the onslaught began in October. The victims included engineers, teachers, medical personnel, and other humanitarian workers.
The number of UN workers murdered in Gaza represents the largest number of UN losses since the organization's inception in 1945.
UNRWA, which coordinates nearly all aid to besieged Gaza, has been in crisis since January, when "Israel" falsely accused about a dozen of its 13,000 Gaza employees of being involved in the October 7 events. This led the organization's top Western donors to suspend funding.
'Israel' cuts all ties with OHCHR, not issuing visas for employees
"Israel" has severed all ties with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and is not issuing visas to its representatives, Sputnik reported on Monday quoting a top official in the organization.
"Israel has still not allowed the OHCHR to reopen its office in the West Bank and gain access to Gaza. Our visa requests are no longer being answered," Deputy UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada Al-Nashif said.
"We continue to ask for access, the only people from our organization who manage to enter Gaza do so on an individual basis as humanitarian workers. We no longer have political relations with Israel, they have totally cut off relations," she added.
As its genocide in Gaza continues, this comes as the latest Israeli hostile measure against a human rights organization.
