UN Flags Fly at Half-Mast at its headquarters in Honor of the lives of its employees and the victims of the ongoing aggression against Gaza

UN flags flew at half-mast at its headquarters all over the world and the employees observe a minute of silence for the lives of more than 100 of their colleagues who were killed as a result of the Israeli aggression against Gaza Strip, which claimed the lives of more than 11,000 martyrs, the majority of whom were children and women.

Agence France-Presse quoted the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, as saying in a message published on the “X” platform: “This is the highest toll of United Nations humanitarian crew members killed in a conflict during this short time,” adding: “They will never be forgotten”.

In Geneva, the second largest center of the United States after New York, the flags were flown at half mast and the organization did not raise any of the flags of its 193 member states along the main road in front of its building. Likewise, the blue and white flag of the organization flew at half-mast in Bangkok, Tokyo, and Beijing.

Vigils were organized in Kathmandu and Kabul, where the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in Afghanistan, Rosa Otunbayeva, led about 250 people who observed a minute of silence.

In Rafah, the Director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Gaza Strip, Tom White, commented in a statement, saying: “UNRWA employees in Gaza appreciate flags flying at half-mast around the world, but in Gaza, we must keep the UN flag flying high as an indication that we are still standing and serving the people of Gaza”.

The lowering of the flags comes a day after the United Nations announced that a large number of martyrs and wounded had been recorded in the bombing of the United Nations Development Program headquarters in Gaza, while UNRWA indicated yesterday that 102 of its workers martyred in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war, and 27 others were injured.

In addition to its employees who were martyred in the bombing, UNRWA announced that the bombing affected 63 schools and health facilities that it runs in Gaza, and resulted in 66 deaths and at least 651 injuries among civilians who fled to these facilities seeking safety.

UNRWA currently houses about 780,000 people in more than 150 locations in the Gaza Strip, noting that these people came in search of protection and security in those shelters under the banner of the United Nations.

Souha Suleiman