The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, has said that aid workers “are not and should never be a target”.

“Far too many colleagues working for the UN have been killed in Gaza. At UNRWA alone, 188 team members have been killed since this war began. No one is safe in Gaza including aid workers,” he wrote in a post on X.

Two UN workers were driving to the European Hospital in southern Gaza in a UN-marked vehicle on Sunday when their vehicle came under fire. The UN has confirmed that the attack killed the organisation’s first foreign staff member in Gaza since the start of the conflict on October 7.

The Israeli military has yet to confirm its forces were responsible for the attack.