An Enabel employee, Abdallah Nabhan, aged 33, and his 7-year-old son Jamal, were killed on Wednesday following an Israeli army bombardment in the eastern part of the town of Rafah, in south of the Gaza Strip, the Minister of Cooperation, Caroline Gennez, announced Thursday in a press release.
Mr. Nahban’s wife is in critical condition in hospital. Mr. Nahban’s father, his brother and his six-year-old niece also lost their lives. Two other of his children, aged 5 years and 7 months, were slightly injured.
The house where the family was located housed around 25 people, including residents and displaced people who had taken refuge there. Last night’s attack claimed the lives of at least seven people and injured many more.
Mr. Nahban joined the Belgian Cooperation Agency in April 2020 as a “Business Development Officer” as part of a European project aimed at helping small businesses in the Gaza Strip.
Like other Enabel employees in Gaza, he was on the list of people authorized to leave Gaza, which was handed over to Israeli authorities several months ago. He died before he and his family were allowed to safely leave Gaza. Currently, seven staff members are still there. Minister Gennez condemned “this attack against innocent civilians” and expressed her condolences to Mr. Nahban’s relatives, accompanied by the director of Enabel, Jean Van Wetter.
“His story and that of his family is just one of tens of thousands. When will it finally be enough? After six months of war and destruction in Gaza, we already seem to be getting used to it, but the fact remains that the indiscriminate bombing of civilian infrastructure and innocent civilians goes against all international, humanitarian and law of war laws.
The Israeli government bears an overwhelming responsibility here,” she accused. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hadja Lahbib, announced that she was summoning the Israeli ambassador to Belgium “to condemn this unacceptable act and demand explanations.” “Bombarding civilian areas and populations is contrary to international law,” she underlined. The House of Representatives paid tribute to the Belgian Agency collaborator at the opening of its plenary session.
Enabel is the Belgian government’s development agency. Its mission is to implement the political priorities of Belgian government cooperation. 170 projects are underway in 21 countries of activity, 2,000 staff members worldwide for 300 million euros in annual turnover.
The building housing Enabel in Gaza was already hit last February. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hadja Lahbib, summoned the Israeli ambassador to Belgium, Idit Rosenzweig-Abu, to her office on February 2 after the destruction of the building housing the premises of Enabel, the Belgian Cooperation Agency. development, in the Gaza Strip as well as those of the NGO Handicap International. A meeting which took place in the presence of the Minister of Cooperation, Caroline Gennez. Belgium had requested that all clarity be provided on this affair which had provoked strong reactions in the political and associative world. According to official explanations provided by Israel on Wednesday, Enabel was not targeted. The army blew up the building which was located next door “for an unspecified military reason”. This explosion had an impact on the building housing the Agency’s premises, seriously damaging it and rendering it unusable.
Rafah Gaza
