Belgian Aid Worker and Son Killed in Gaza Shelling, Israel Summoned

A Belgian aid organization worker was killed in an Israeli shelling in the Gaza Strip, as reported by the Belgian authorities on Thursday. In response to this incident, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Brussels summoned the Israeli ambassador.

According to Belgian Development Minister Caroline Gennez, 33-year-old Abdallah Nahban, an employee of the Belgian development agency Enabel, which supports small businesses, and his seven-year-old son were killed during the Israeli armed forces' shelling in the eastern part of Rafah city.

"An Enabel employee & his family have been killed in Gaza. We express our solidarity with his family & colleagues. Bombing civilian areas & populations is contrary to international law. I will summon the Israeli ambassador to condemn this unacceptable act & demand an explanation.," stated Hadja Lahbib, the head of the Belgian Foreign Ministry, on the X platform. She further mentioned that she has condemned this unacceptable act in her dialogue with the Israeli ambassador and has requested an explanation from the Israeli authorities.

The Belgian authorities have also reported that the shelling of a building, which housed about 25 civilians including refugees from other areas of the Gaza Strip, resulted in at least seven fatalities.

In early April, an Israeli shelling in the Gaza Strip claimed the lives of seven volunteers from the American humanitarian organization World Central Kitchen (WCK). WCK has stated that they were targeted by the Israeli army.

This tragic incident took place while the organization was distributing food aid that had arrived in the Gaza Strip a few hours earlier by ship from Cyprus. The deceased included citizens from Australia, Poland, and the United Kingdom, as well as an individual with dual American-Canadian citizenship. A Palestinian driver was likewise killed.

Since October 2023, marking the start of the war between Israel and the Palestinian organization Hamas, it is estimated that over 34,000 Palestinians have perished in the Gaza Strip.

"The indiscriminate bombing of civilian infrastructure and innocent civilians violates international humanitarian law," Minister Gennez remarked on Thursday.