Belgium to summon Israeli ambassador over bombing of Enabel’s Gaza office

Summary:

• Belgium plans to summon the Israeli ambassador following the bombing and destruction of the office building housing the Belgian Agency for Development Cooperation (Enabel) in Gaza by Israeli airstrikes.

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BRUSSELS, Friday, February 2, 2024 (WAFA) – Belgium has declared it would summon the Israeli ambassador after the office building housing the Belgian Agency for Development Cooperation (Enabel) in Gaza was bombed and destroyed by Israeli airstrikes, Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib has announced.

“Targeting civilian buildings is unacceptable,” she said in a post on X.

Israel has repeatedly targeted residential and civilian buildings in its ongoing bombardment campaign. More than 60% of Gaza’ housing units have now been destroyed or damaged, according to the UN, which says the amount of debris caused by Israel amounts to 8,000,000 metric tons and will take three years to clear.

Meantime, Enabel’s director, Jan Van Wetter, stated on X that the agency’s offices in Gaza were “destroyed yesterday in the bombing. We at Enabel are shocked. As a government agency working for the public good within the framework of international humanitarian law, we cannot accept this.” He accompanied his statement with two photos, one showing the building where the agency’s offices were located before the alleged bombing and the other showing a pile of rubble.

In October, the occupying Israeli army focused its airstrikes and ground operation in northern Gaza, including Gaza City, before advancing further south, with battles intensifying currently in Khan Yunis, the second-largest city in the besieged strip.

According to a report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) published on Wednesday, 37,379 buildings, equivalent to 18% of all buildings in Gaza, were destroyed due to the Israeli military operation in November.

Since then, satellite data indicates that the destruction has more than doubled, according to Rami Al-Azza, a co-author of the report, who told Agence France-Presse, “The new data indicates that 50% of buildings in Gaza are damaged or destroyed.”

Notably, the agency’s offices are located in a building on Victor Hugo Street in the central Al-Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City.

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