Eleven workers from the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNWRA) have died in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war between Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas on the 7th, the deputy director of this organization, Jenifer, confirmed on Wednesday. Austin. "Among them were five UNRWA school teachers, a gynecologist, an engineer, a psychological counselor and three support staff. Some were killed in their homes with their families," Austin reported.
The UN Security Council will meet again this Friday to discuss the escalation of the conflict, which in five days has caused around a thousand deaths on each side. The surprise attack by the Islamist group Hamas from Gaza on Israel last Saturday began a war that continues to see heavy exchanges of fire between the parties, and the international community has expressed concern about civilian deaths and contagion in the region.
These were two priorities on which the Security Council focused, as transmitted by some of its members after a first closed-door emergency meeting on the conflict last Sunday, in which there was no unanimous condemnation of the Hamas attacks on Israel.
The new meeting of the Security Council will be held in New York but its format has not been specified. Likewise, UN Secretary General António Guterres expressed his concern on Wednesday about the crossfire on the Blue Line, the border between Israel and Lebanon, and called on "all parties and those who have influence" over them to contain a "contagion" of hostilities.
Guterres also reiterated his call for "the necessary release of all Israeli hostages held in Gaza", which the Israeli Government estimates to be more than 100 people, and recalled that civilians must be protected in any conflict, as dictated by international humanitarian law. At the same time, he called for crucial supplies such as food and water to be allowed into Gaza, and thanked Egypt for its intervention to "facilitate humanitarian access" through the Rafah crossing and El Arish airport.
The UN indicated that there are already more than 220,000 Palestinian refugees in 92 facilities of the Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA) in the Gaza Strip and assured that the organization's staff "work around the clock" to support Gazans.
