UN agency says aid warehouse in Rafah hit, reports of casualties

Palestinians mourn over the body of a UN staff who was killed in an Israeli air strike near a warehouse of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), at Al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip. Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), which distributes food and aid supplies in Gaza, was hit on Wednesday, the organization said.

There are reports that at least two UNRWA employees were killed in the incident in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, the agency said, although it cautioned it was still trying to confirm exactly what happened and the number of staff impacted.

Palestinian media reported that an Israeli attack on the centre killed several people. An Israeli army spokesman said the reports were being investigated.

According to the Hamas-controlled health authority in Gaza, 31,272 people have been killed and more than 73,000 others injured in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war more than five months ago. More than two-thirds of these are women and minors.

The war was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel's history, carried out by militants from the Palestinian organization Hamas and other extremist groups in Israel near the Gaza border on October 7 in which more than 1,200 people were killed and 250 others taken hostage.

Palestinians mourn around the body of a UN staff who was killed in an Israeli air strike near a warehouse of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), at Al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip. Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa
Wounded Palestinians, who were injured in an Israeli air strike near a warehouse of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), arrive at Al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip. Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa
Palestinians surround the bodies of those who were killed in an Israeli air strike near a warehouse of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), at Al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip. Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa