Guterres: 135 UN employees were killed in Gaza in 2023′
According to Anatolia news agency, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in his speech at the General Assembly, which was held in the presence of the relatives of the families of the deceased employees of this organization, stated: Today we remember the 188 UN personnel who died in 2023 while on duty. They lost their lives, we respect them. Among these personnel are 135 men and women who worked for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza.
The UN Secretary-General added: “This is the highest number of our personnel killed in a conflict or natural disaster since the founding of the United Nations – a fact we can never accept.” Some of them were working with their families in the bombardment of their homes and others were working in offices or shelters when they were killed (by the occupiers of Jerusalem). I repeat my demand for full accountability for each and every one of these deaths.
Emphasizing that UNRWA personnel lived and were killed in Gaza as representatives of the international community, and therefore this incident deserves an explanation, Guterres clarified: The United Nations has requested the consent of family members to include the names of their loved ones in today’s ceremony. This is a procedure established by our laws. Unfortunately, we were unable to contact many of our colleagues’ family members because they were either killed or forced to leave their homes due to Israeli (regime) attacks.
The Secretary General of the United Nations further added: Today we honor the memory of some of those colleagues with their full names and honor others with their professional titles. They were teachers, drivers, doctors, health workers, security guards, pharmacists, administrative assistants, etc. They were mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, husbands, wives. They were our colleagues. They were our friends. I personally regret that despite our best efforts, we could not protect our personnel in Gaza. Today we remember them and honor their sacrifice and service.
At the same time, United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Thursday local time: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemns the attack on a school run by the United Nations that left at least 40 dead. This is just another horrific example of the price civilians pay in this war, which sacrifices Palestinian men, women and children who are just trying to survive. The Secretary General condemns this attack. He must be responsible for everything that happened in Gaza.
It was another terrible day in Gaza, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees described on Thursday local time after dozens of people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a school in central Gaza.