January 7, 2025 – We are deeply saddened by the tragic death of a staff member of CARE partner organization MA’AN Development Center in Gaza following this week’s missile attack on a World Food Program (WFP) warehouse operated by MA’AN in Deir Al-Balah. The staff member and two other colleagues were seriously injured in the attack, suffering shrapnel wounds, according to MA’AN. They were treated in one of the few still-functioning hospitals, but the doctors were unable to save one of them.
The killed staff member, 42, a loving father of five and a dedicated humanitarian, is one of hundreds of humanitarian workers who have been unjustly killed by this senseless conflict. His death is yet another stark reminder of the daily threats to the safety and security of all humanitarian workers in Gaza, including our staff, and the risks they take to deliver assistance to those who desperately need it.
This attack on a flour distribution warehouse will only exacerbate an already catastrophic situation and further limit starving people’s access to scarce food supplies. In Gaza, MA’AN’s work includes the distribution of non-perishable food items and hot meals for displaced people to address food insecurity, malnutrition and hunger.
We wish to send sincere condolences to the bereaved family and hope the two other injured staff members of MA’AN will make a swift and full recovery. We express our heartfelt solidarity with all humanitarian workers in Gaza, who are the unsung heroes risking their lives every day to help bring much needed relief to a population enduring all kinds of unimaginable suffering for 15 months now.
The number of aid workers killed in Gaza over the past year is the highest ever to be recorded in a single crisis, despite repeated reminders that they must be protected in accordance with international law. The massive scale of killing and destruction has taken the lives of at least 45,000 people, including at least 363 humanitarian personnel, and injured more than 109,000. Palestinian aid workers continue to bear the brunt of the high risk of delivering aid to those who are desperately in need of it.
We call for a ceasefire now to end the bloodshed. We call on all parties to the conflict to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law, including to protect civilians, civilian infrastructure and humanitarian aid workers and to facilitate safe, unhindered and principled humanitarian access. We again call for the release of all hostages and those arbitrarily detained.
– Jolien Veldwijk, CARE Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) Country Director
Editor’s notes:
- See here for a statement from WFP condemning the warehouse attack, which came hours after a WFP convoy was also targeted.
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