ANKARA

The Belgian prime minister said Thursday that Israel is “doubly responsible” for killing a Belgian humanitarian worker and his family in the Gaza Strip, according to a media report.

Alexander De Croo described the deaths as “tragic news” during a plenary session in the lower chamber of the parliament, said the 7sur7 news website.

Israel is responsible firstly because a country should do everything possible to avoid bombing humanitarian workers, and secondly, because Belgium has been asking for months for authorization for Belgian humanitarian workers to leave Gaza, said De Croo.

“They have been refusing it for four months,” he said. “Everyday, innocent people and children are being killed. Dear Israeli government: This must stop. Now.”

He added that Belgium was eager to recognize the state of Palestine, “but this must be part of a peace process, a process of political reforms necessary on both sides.”

Cooperation Minister Caroline Gennez announced earlier the death of “Abdallah Nabhan (33) and his seven-year-old son Jamal last night after an Israeli airstrike in the eastern part of the city of Rafah.”

Nahban was an employee of the Belgian development agency, Enabel.

Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib reiterated on X that “bombing civilian areas & populations is contrary to international law.”

She said she “will summon the Israeli ambassador to condemn this unacceptable act & demand an explanation.”

Israel has waged a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group, Hamas, on Oct. 7, which Tel Aviv said killed less than 1,200 people.

More than 34,300 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and nearly 77,300 injured amid mass destruction and severe shortages of necessities.

More than six months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.