Oxfam demands Gaza aid workers’ killing inquiry as doctors decry ‘collective punishment’

Key Points

• Oxfam says four water engineers were killed in southern Gaza, on their way to repair water infrastructure.
• Their “clearly-marked vehicle” was bombed despite prior coordination with Israeli authorities, the NGO said.
• Doctors Without Borders called on the Israeli forces to “immediately stop their attacks on hospitals in north Gaza”.

Oxfam has condemned the killing of four water engineers who the aid group said were on their way to repair water infrastructure in southern Gaza when their “clearly-marked vehicle” was bombed.

The organisation said the four people, who were working with Oxfam partner the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU), had had prior coordination with Israeli authorities of their movements, before they were killed in Khan Younis on their way to reparation works on Saturday.

Oxfam called for accountability and an independent investigation into the incident, adding that dozens of engineers, civil and

in Israeli airstrikes throughout this Hamas-Israel war.

“We reiterate our calls for a ceasefire, an immediate halt to arms transfers to Israel, and the international community to ensure Israel is held accountable for its continued assault on civilians and those working to deliver life-saving services.”

The IDF launched a sweeping air and ground assault targeting northern Gaza on 6 October. Since then, it has tightened its siege, which has displaced tens of thousands of people.

“There are dozens of bodies scattered in the streets of Jabalia due to continuous shelling,” Gaza civil defence agency spokesman, Mahmud Bassal, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Bassal said the dead included women, children and the elderly.

The Israeli military press department when contacted by AFP said it was “checking” the reports.

On Sunday, Bassal said an Israeli air strike on a residential area killed at least 73 Palestinians in Beit Lahiya in the territory’s north.

Israel said it struck a “Hamas terror target” but did not offer other details as to who the target of the strike was, and disputed the toll figure given by Gaza authorities.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), or Doctors Without Borders, on Sunday called on the Israeli forces to “immediately stop their attacks on hospitals in north Gaza”.

The group said Israeli forces were “besieging and targeting” the Indonesian, Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan hospitals, citing health workers and Gaza’s Ministry of Health.

“This is purely and simply a collective punishment imposed on Palestinians in Gaza, who must choose between being forcibly displaced from the North or killed. We fear that this will not stop,” said Anna Halford, MSF emergency coordinator in Gaza.