UN staff pulled out of Gaza due to security

Gaza City, Oct. 2: The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said on Monday it was temporarily withdrawing part of its foreign staff from the Gaza Strip following security concerns linked to job cuts in the Palestinian enclave.

It said in a statement it had “decided to temporarily withdraw part of its international staff from Gaza following a series of worrying security incidents affecting its personnel in the strip.”

A source with knowledge of the situation said six foreign staffers remained out of the 19 who are usually there.

The Israeli defence ministry unit that oversees the crossing said a number of foreign employees from the agency known as UNRWA “were evacuated from the Gaza Strip to Israel” on Monday.

UNRWA employees in the strip have held strikes, sit- ins and other protests since the agency announced in July it was cutting more than 250 jobs in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. Hundreds of full- time roles have also become part- time.