UNHCR confirms Israel killed 2 staff members in Lebanon

• UNHCR confirms Israel killed 2 staff members in Lebanon
• The UN refugee agency said it was “outraged and deeply saddened”
• “Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon are now relentlessly claiming hundreds of civilian lives”

UNHCR confirms Israel killed 2 staff members in Lebanon

The UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR, has confirmed the deaths of staff members killed in Israeli air strikes. One of its staff members, Dina Darwiche, and her child in an Israeli airstrike in eastern Lebanon. The strike, part of a barrage of over a thousand airstrikes in the past two days, hit Darwiche’s home on Monday. Her husband and older son were rescued but remain in the hospital with serious injuries.

Dina Darwiche had worked at UNHCR’s Bekaa office for 12 years, dedicated to helping refugees. In addition to Darwiche, another UNHCR staff member, Ali Basma, who worked as a cleaner in the agency’s Tyre office, was also killed in the airstrikes.

In a statement, UNHCR said it was “outraged and deeply saddened” by their killing.

“Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon are now relentlessly claiming hundreds of civilian lives,” said Filippo Grandi, UNHCR’s global director, on Tuesday. “And I am very saddened to confirm that two UNHCR colleagues were also killed yesterday.”

Funerals for the victims of the ongoing airstrikes are being held across Lebanon as the conflict continues to take a heavy toll on civilians.