At least 322 aid workers killed in Gaza since last October: UN

​​​​​​​By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - At least 322 aid workers, including 237 UN staff, have been killed in the Gaza Strip since war began last October, the UN said Tuesday.

According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), aid workers and emergency responders continue to face "extreme challenges" in assisting those in Gaza, said spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

"Since the beginning of the month, at least 14 humanitarian workers and four health workers have been killed and others injured across the Gaza Strip, including some who were off duty.

"In total, since October of last year, 322 aid workers, including 315 Palestinians and seven foreigners, were killed; this includes 237 staff of the United Nations, of whom 233 were UNRWA (UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) staff members," Dujarric told reporters.

Since Israel launched its war on Gaza on Oct. 7 last year, more than 43,000 Palestinians have been killed in the enclave, most of them women and children, and over 101,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

More than a year into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide against Palestinians at the International Court of Justice.