Favour Ozioma Ogbodo
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has announced the death of one of their staff in Gaza, in the occupied Palestinian territory.
Dima Abdullatif Mohammed Alhaj, 29 years old, had been with WHO since December 2019. She worked as a patient administrator at the Limb Reconstruction Centre, a critical part of the WHO Trauma and Emergency Team, a statement posted on the organisation’s website disclosed on Tuesday.
WHO representative, Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, in the statement, said Dima died when her parents’ house in southern Gaza—where she had evacuated to from Gaza City—was bombed. She was tragically killed alongside her husband, their six-month old baby boy, and her two brothers. Reportedly, over 50 family and community members also died in the attack, he added.
Peeperkorn recalled that on Women’s Day 2022, Dima said in a WHO social media post that she was proud of her work because “it contributes to giving people hope and a new lease on life.”
“The death of Dima and her family is another example of the senseless loss in this conflict. Civilians have died in their homes, at their workplaces, while evacuating, while sheltering in schools, while being cared for in hospitals. When will it stop?
“We plead again with all those who hold in their hands the power to end this conflict to do so,” it queried.
