UNRWA said it had lost a total of 152 staff in Gaza as of January 22. In November, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that since the escalation of the conflict, the UN had experienced the largest loss of staff in the history of its existence.
"We have/had 13,000 UNRWA staff in Gaza, of which some 3,000 are working (while being displaced, living in shelters, working outside their area of expertise sometimes), including in eight health centers (out of 25) and through 90 daily mobile clinics that go around the shelters in the south, and distributing food in and around shelters," Alrifai said.
As for the casualties among UNRWA staff, she confirmed that 152 people were killed, but added that the organization does not have information on all of its employees, so the number could change. Alrifai did not comment on the number of missing workers or on the party responsible for their deaths.
On October 7, the Gaza Strip-controlling Hamas movement launched a large-scale rocket attack against Israel and breached the border, attacking both civilian neighborhoods and military bases. As a result, over 1,200 people in Israel were killed and some 240 others abducted. Israel launched retaliatory strikes, ordered a complete blockade of Gaza, and started a ground incursion into the Palestinian exclave with the declared goal of eliminating Hamas fighters and rescuing the hostages. At least 25,700 people have been killed so far in the Gaza Strip as a result of Israeli strikes, local authorities said.
On November 24, Qatar mediated a deal between Israel and Hamas on a temporary truce and the exchange of some of the prisoners and hostages, as well as the delivery of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. The ceasefire was extended several times and expired on December 1. More than 100 hostages are still believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza.
