2 Oxfam aid workers killed in Israeli airstrikes in northern Gaza

By Anadolu staff

ANKARA (AA) – Two aid workers with British aid group Oxfam were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, the group said.

“Oxfam mourns the tragic loss of our partners at Juzoor, Dr. Ahmad Al-Najar and midwife Laila Jneid, killed by Israeli airstrikes on Jabalia,” the humanitarian organization said in a statement on X late Saturday.

It said the two workers were providing lifesaving health care in Gaza.

“Attacking aid workers is a war crime,” Oxfam said, renewing its call for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza.

The Israeli army has pressed ahead with a massive offensive, now in its 16th day, in northern Gaza amid a suffocating siege on the area.

The onslaught is the third ground operation in Jabalia since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023.

Israel has continued a brutal offensive on Gaza following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last year, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

More than 42,500 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 99,600 injured, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of Gaza amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi