ISTANBUL, Türkiye

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA said 108 of its staffers have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the start of hostilities on Oct. 7, when Palestinian group Hamas conducted a cross border attack and Israel retaliated with indiscriminate bombing and later a ground incursion, killing over 14,000 people.

"This is the highest number of United Nations aid workers killed in a conflict in the history" of the organization, the agency said in a statement late Wednesday. "At least 40 per cent have been killed south of Wadi Gaza."

Philippe Lazzarini said most were killed with their family members including their children. "I never believed that as commissioner general I would be planning memorial services for my staff in advance. This cannot continue," he added.

"The present situation is dire. It can and will get much worse unless we act."

In Gaza on Wednesday, Lazzarini met UNRWA staffers, saying he was "moved by their dignity."

"They shared same plight & pain as any other displaced person, they lost loved ones. They are my source of inspiration, a ray of light coming out of the darkness," he wrote on X.

The agency said almost 1.7 million people, or nearly 80% of the population in the besieged enclave have been displaced since Oct. 7. Besides the casualties, health infrastructure and food security is in dire straits. 

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala