By Burak Bir
LONDON (AA) - The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday that one of its employees was killed in the Gaza Strip along with her family.
"Our young @WHOoPt (World Health Organization office in the occupied Palestinian territory) colleague Dima Alhaj was tragically killed alongside her 6 month old baby, her husband and 2 brothers," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on X, saying "my colleagues and I are devastated."
He noted that many other family members who were sheltering in the same house were also killed, without providing details of how the family died or who was responsible.
"I have no words to describe our grief," he said, adding a total of 108 colleagues from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) have been killed in the besieged enclave since Oct. 7.
"This horror must end. All humanitarians and civilians must be protected. Ceasefire. NOW.”
Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks in the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7.
The Palestinian death toll from Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has soared to 14,128, the Health Ministry in the blockaded enclave said Tuesday.
“The victims include over 5,840 children and 3,920 women,” the ministry added in a statement.
The Israeli death toll, meanwhile, is around 1,200, according to official figures.