Action Against Hunger mourns the loss of another team member in Gaza in less than four months
Action Against Hunger shares with deep sadness the news of the tragic killing of our former colleague, Mustafa Walid Mohammed Al Ejla, in the Gaza Strip. Mustafa worked at an Action Against Hunger warehouse in Gaza City, which was rendered inaccessible as a result of displacement orders. He was killed on 16 September in an Israeli air strike in Gaza City, near his family's home. He was 29 years old and married.
Mustafa’s devastating death marks the third suffered by Action Against Hunger teams in Gaza since June this year. The ongoing assault and ground operation in Gaza City continues to claim the lives of civilians and loved ones, including members of our own team who lived with unparalleled dedication and dignity.
“Mustafa was an exemplary of ethics,” remembers one of his colleagues. “He was a friend and role model.”
“The loss of our beloved colleague Mustafa exemplifies the terrible conditions of life in Gaza City,” explains Natalia Anguera, Head of Middle East Operations at Action Against Hunger. “Our teams are in a constant state of grief while also being forced to make impossible choices: flee to an overcrowded south that is ill-equipped to sustain human survival on a large scale, or risk death in the north in the face of the offensive.”
“Over half of our colleagues in Gaza City have been forcibly displaced, making the dangerous 15-hour trek to the South. Similarly, the families of half of the babies and toddlers with acute malnutrition that we treat were forcibly displaced in the last week,” said Natalia Anguera. “With two additional warehouses inaccessible as a result of previous displacement orders, we fear continuous loss of access to critical areas, humanitarian infrastructure and supplies.”
Around 86% of the Gaza Strip is now under displacement orders or in militarised areas, blocking humanitarian access to certain areas, separating farmers from their land and engineering professionals from essential water and sanitation infrastructure in need of rehabilitation. At the same time, more than 65,000 people have been killed, including 20,000 children, and at least 540 humanitarian workers have been killed since October 2023, making it the deadliest place on earth to be an aid worker.
Action Against Hunger reiterates its urgent call for the protection of the civilian population, including humanitarian workers. The tragedy of these losses underscores, once again, the need for an immediate and permanent ceasefire.
Action Against Hunger extends our deepest condolences to Mustafa's family and loved ones. We will not forget the lives of Mustafa, nor Obada and Mohammed who were killed in an Israeli airstrike on 26 June.
We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to our humanitarian mission: to continue bringing aid to those facing unimaginable challenges in Gaza.
