The UN agency for Palestinian refugees on Tuesday said another six staff members were killed in Gaza amid the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict.
"Another six UNRWA staff have been confirmed killed, bringing total to 35 staff killed since 7 October," the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees said in a statement on X.
"We mourn their loss and stand with colleagues doing all they can to assist those in need," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres commented on the killing of UNRWA staff.
The UN agency added that "40 UNRWA installations across Gaza have now been damaged" in the conflict.
Later, in a UN press briefing in Geneva, UNRWA spokesperson Tamara Alrifai said: "At least 35 colleagues, and I think by now the numbers even higher, were killed during the active facilities in different strikes.”
She said that the UNRWA needs "much longer time" to assess what exactly happened on the ground due to its limited capacity, including collection of evidence and shrapnel to analyze.
"While some of our buildings (destroyed) and some of our colleagues killed because of Israeli strikes, I cannot confirm that for all of them," Alrifai added.
The conflict in Gaza, which has been under Israeli bombardment and a blockade since Oct. 7, began when the Palestinian group Hamas initiated Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, a multi-pronged surprise attack that included a barrage of rocket launches and infiltrations into Israel by land, sea, and air.
It said the incursion was in retaliation for the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque and growing violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians.
The Israeli military then launched Operation Swords of Iron against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip has climbed to 5,087, the Health Ministry in the blockaded enclave said Monday.
More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed in Hamas attacks since Oct. 7, according to Israeli authorities.
