MSF says ninth employee killed in Gaza, with 10 family members

AFP , Friday 24 Jan 2025

Medical charity MSF on Friday confirmed the death of a ninth employee in Gaza, saying he and 10 family members had been trapped and starving when they were killed by an Israeli air strike last month.

Bilal Okal
Bilal Okal was the ninth staff member of the organisation killed by Israeli forces during the Gaza war. Photo courtesy MSF/Doctors Without Borders

 

Doctors Without Borders, which is known by its French acronym, said it was "devastated to report the death of Bilal Okal, our colleague killed by Israeli forces in Jabalia, North Gaza".

The man, along with his wife, seven children, his mother and a sister had become trapped in their building during a violent siege by Israeli forces, before being killed by an Israeli airstrike in December.

MSF said in a statement that it had "lost all contact with Bilal on December 1", and had only received confirmation of his death on Sunday, when the current ceasefire in Gaza took effect.

"In this tragic moment, our thoughts are with Bilal's family, friends and colleagues mourning his death," it said.

The 37-year-old hygiene specialist, who joined MSF in 2017, was the ninth staff member of the organisation killed by Israeli forces in the war on Gaza since it began on 7 October 2023.

They are among more than 330 aid workers killed by Israeli forces during the war, most of them from UNRWA, the UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees, according to UN data from November.

"When we last heard from Bilal, he was running out of food and water and was stuck in his home with his relatives," MSF said.

"They had tried to leave Jabalia but the bombings were so intense that it was unsafe to move."

The organisation said it had learned from Bilal's brother on November 11 that his sheltering family members "were starving but were too scared to look for food or leave because anything that moved got shot".

"MSF strongly condemns the killing of Bilal and his family in their home by Israeli forces," it said.

"We can only imagine the terror they faced while they were trapped under siege and horrendous violence before they were killed."

MSF warned that across Gaza, "people are still suffering and families continue to look for their missing relatives whom they fear have been killed".

*This story was edited by Ahram Online.

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