Belgian ministers have requested a meeting with the Israeli ambassador to discuss the attack.
Belgian officials expressed outrage on Thursday after Israeli forces reportedly bombed the headquarters of the Belgian Agency for Development and Cooperation in the Gaza Strip. The attack came after Belgium refused to join the United States and more than a dozen other countries in defunding the United Nations. Palestine Refugee Support Agency by Nations.
Belgian Foreign Minister Haja Rachbib said: “The offices of Belgian development agency Enabel in Gaza were bombed and destroyed.” I have written on social media. “Targeting civilian buildings is unacceptable.”
Ravib and Belgium’s minister of development cooperation and urban policy, Caroline Genes, posted photos of the destroyed buildings and requested a meeting with Israel’s ambassador to Israel to discuss Wednesday’s attack.
office building @enabelBelgian Development Cooperation Agency; #Gaza It was bombed and completely destroyed.
Attacking civilian buildings was, and remains, completely unacceptable.
together @hadjalahbibcalls the Israeli ambassador. pic.twitter.com/CYnsrPhdtA
—Caroline Genez (@carogennez) February 1, 2024
Gene Van Wetter, CEO of Enabel, said: Said “We are all in shock,” he said Thursday.
He added: “As a government agency acting in the public interest within the framework of international humanitarian law, this is unacceptable.”
Belgium evacuated Enabel employees and their families from the territory two weeks ago, so it is believed that none of the agency’s staff were present when Israeli forces attacked the building.
A satellite data analysis released earlier this week showed that more than half of the buildings in the Gaza Strip were damaged or destroyed in Israel’s US-backed bombing of the Palestinian enclave. This was one of the most devastating bombing campaigns in modern history.
The timing of the attack on a Belgian office building raised eyebrows, and observers noted the country’s status as one of the few Western countries that has not stopped aid to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in response. pointed out. In response to Israeli claims that more than a dozen of the agency’s employees took part in the October 7 attack.
“Belgium is one of the Western countries that has refused to cut funding to UNRWA, which means Israel bombed the offices of the Belgian Agency for Development and Cooperation in Gaza,” said Trita, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible States and Strategy.・Mr. Parsi said. I have written on social media. “This is a direct result of the immunity Washington has given Israel.”
Sixteen countries have suspended financial support to UNRWA, undermining the aid agency’s ability to provide humanitarian aid to Gazans at increased risk of hunger and disease. UNRWA Director-General Philippe Lazzarini said on Thursday that unless funding is restored, the agency “will likely be forced to close” operations in Gaza and across the region by the end of this month.
The US State Department announced its decision to suspend funding to UNRWA last Friday. It came just hours after the International Court of Justice ruled that South Africa’s genocide case against Israel was valid and ordered the Israeli government to ensure the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Asked about the timing of the U.S. decision to cut funding to UNRWA, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said at a Thursday press conference that there were internal “concerns” that the announcement could be seen as a rebuke of the ICJ’s interim ruling. There was no such thing.”
Reporters unite to question the State Department about the timing of UNRWA’s announcement, which coincides perfectly with the ICJ ruling. pic.twitter.com/jpO2mnBNSY
— Halalflow (@halalflow) February 1, 2024
Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide of Norway, one of the countries that has refused to cut off aid to UNRWA, said on Thursday that he was “quite optimistic” that at least some of the countries that have cut off funding will reverse course in the near future. said.
Mr Eide said earlier this week that he was “discussing funding issues with other donors” and urged “other donors to consider the broader implications of funding cuts to UNRWA”.
“UNWRA is a critical lifeline for the 1.5 million refugees in Gaza,” he added. “Now more than ever, government agencies need international support.”