The UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) today announced the death of one of its workers, who was “killed while on the roof of his house by a sniper” during an Israeli military operation in the northern part of the West Bank.

Sofian Jaber Abed Jawad was killed overnight in the al-Fara’a refugee camp, the UN agency said in a statement, adding that “it is the first time a UNRWA worker has been killed in the West Bank in more than ten years.” “. Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.

According to UNRWA, Abed Jawad was a “street worker”, married with five children. His burial took place today, according to an AFP journalist who attended the funeral.

When asked by AFP, the Israeli military did not immediately react to the UNRWA announcement.

Earlier, the military had issued a statement saying its forces “conducted a 48-hour anti-terrorist operation” in Toumba, Tamun and Faraa districts, killing “five armed terrorists” in an airstrike and a sixth in an “exchange of fire” with “a terrorist who was throwing explosive devices”.

The Israeli army launched a major military offensive in late August against Palestinian armed groups fighting Israel from the northern part of the West Bank. Several dozen Palestinians, including members of armed organizations, but also civilians – teenagers and/or elderly – were killed in this operation, according to Palestinian sources.

According to UNRWA, more than 220 of its workers have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war, which broke out after the deadly attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas against Israel on October 7, 2023.