Abdallah Nabhan and members of his family died overnight after an Israeli airstrike in the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, the Belgian development agency Enabel said in a statement Thursday.
Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib summoned Israel’s ambassador following Nabhan’s death. “Bombing civilian areas and populations is against international law. I summon the Israeli ambassador to condemn this unacceptable act and demand explanations,” she said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Enabel said that Nabhan, whose father, brother, niece and son were also killed in the attack, was on the list of people eligible to leave Gaza. Nabhan is Palestinian and the aid agency believes his family were as well.
“What we feared for a long time has now become a reality. This is horrible news, Belgian Development Cooperation Minister Caroline Gennez said in a statement. “I would like to express my deepest condolences to Abdallah’s family and friends, to his son Jamal, his papa, his brother and his niece, and to all our Enabel staff. Our hearts are once again broken today.”
“The attack last night took the lives of at least seven people and many others were injured,” she added.
Enabel CEO Jean Van Wetter said in a statement: “This is yet another flagrant violation by Israel of international humanitarian law. As the director of a Belgian agency and a former humanitarian worker, I cannot accept that this has continued with impunity for so long.”
He added: “It is tragic that innocent civilians are victims of this conflict. We must do everything we can to stop the violence.”
Earlier this month, Israel admitted its army killed seven workers from the U.S.-based food charity World Central Kitchen, an attack which prompted a global outcry over the Israel Defense Forces’ war tactics, which health authorities in Gaza say have killed more than 34,000 people.
Israel has so far not denied or claimed responsibility for the attack. The country’s foreign press office declined to comment immediately.
According to the U.N., more than 220 humanitarian personnel have been killed in Gaza during the ongoing conflict, more than three times as many humanitarian aid workers killed in any single conflict recorded in a single year.
This story has been updated to note Abdallah Nabhan’s nationality.