UPDATE - Irish foreign minister condemns Israeli airstrikes that killed 6 UNRWA workers

UPDATES WITH REMARKS BY WHO DIRECTOR-GENERAL

By Merve Berker

Irish Foreign Minister Michael Martin on Thursday “condemned” the Israeli attack on Gaza that resulted in the death of six employees from the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

“I condemn the Israeli airstrikes that killed six @UNRWA staff in Gaza,” Martin said on X.

“Humanitarian workers take exceptional risks to provide vital food and aid supplies to people,” he stressed, underlining: “There is an obligation to protect them.”

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the attack as “indeed, terribly tragic.”

“No words can reflect the true horror and loss of life in #Gaza,” the official lamented.

“Hospitals, schools and shelters have been repeatedly bombarded, resulting in deaths of civilians and humanitarians,” he said, adding: “Our hearts go out to @UNRWA colleagues.”

“We grieve the loss of another six colleagues,” he stressed, calling for a cease-fire for “the carnage in Gaza” to stop.

Israel on Wednesday bombed a UN-run school in Gaza, killing 18 people, including six UNRWA members.

The number of fatalities among UNRWA workers marked the highest death toll among its staff in a single incident, according to the agency.

Among the victims were the manager of a UNRWA shelter and team members assisting displaced people.

The attack was the fifth by the Israeli army against the school since Oct. 7 last year amid Israel’s onslaught on Gaza.

The school shelters more than 5,000 displaced civilians, according to authorities.

Israel has systematically targeted civilian facilities, including schools, hospitals, and places of worship amid its offensive against Gaza.

Targeting such facilities can constitute a war crime under the rules of war.

Last month, at least 100 people were killed and dozens injured in an Israeli strike on Al-Taba’een School in Gaza City, where more than 6,000 displaced people have sheltered.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza since a cross-border incursion last October by the Palestinian group Hamas, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

Nearly 41,100 people, mostly women and children, have since been killed and more than 95,000 injured, according to local health authorities.

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

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