Belgium Takes Diplomatic Stand Against Israeli Actions in Gaza: Anabel Agency Building Destroyed
Watan-Belgium has taken diplomatic action against the Israeli occupation after its army destroyed a relief office belonging to the European state.
Belgian Foreign Minister Haja Lahbib (of Algerian descent) announced that she had summoned the Israeli ambassador to Belgium following airstrikes that destroyed the offices of the Belgian development agency (Anabel) in the Gaza Strip, emphasizing that targeting civilian buildings is unacceptable.
Lahbib stated that the summoning of the Israeli ambassador in Belgium was to clarify the targeting of Anabel agency’s building in Gaza by an Israeli airstrike.
Destruction of Anabel Agency’s Building
In a related context, the director of Anabel agency, Jean Van An, confirmed that the agency’s offices in Gaza were completely destroyed in an Israeli shelling that targeted them, expressing shock at the targeting of the agency’s building in Gaza.
He stated that as a government agency working for the public good within the framework of international humanitarian law, the agency cannot accept being subjected to bombardment.
Les bureaux d’Enabel, l’agence belge de développement, à Gaza ont été bombardés et détruits.
Viser des bâtiments civils est inacceptable.
Avec @carogennez, nous convoquons l’ambassadrice d’Israël pour faire toute la clarté. pic.twitter.com/uj5NUXp6ni
— Hadja Lahbib (@hadjalahbib) February 1, 2024
Where is Anabel Agency’s Building Located?
The agency’s building is located in the Al-Rimal neighborhood in the city of Gaza, in the middle of the Gaza Strip, which has been continuously subjected to Israeli artillery and aerial shelling since the start of the war on Gaza on October 7th of the previous year.
Recent statistics have revealed massive destruction in the Gaza Strip due to the brutal war waged by the Israeli occupation forces.
Massive Destruction in Gaza
A report by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), in collaboration with The Guardian newspaper, uncovered catastrophic damage to Gaza’s infrastructure as a result of the ongoing war on the region.
The report indicated the destruction and damage of at least 144,000 homes in Gaza, equivalent to the number of football fields covered by tents set up due to the displacement of residents whose homes were destroyed.
Satellite image analysis showed extensive damage to the sector, with one in every two homes in Gaza being destroyed. In Khan Yunis alone, 38,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed, including 1,500 buildings in the past two weeks.
Satellite images also revealed an increase in Israeli occupation airstrikes in the south and central parts of the sector since the beginning of December, with a focus on Khan Yunis.
In various areas of Gaza, residential areas were destroyed, once-crowded commercial streets turned into rubble, universities were destroyed, agricultural lands were confiscated, and tents spread along the southern borders sheltering thousands who lost their homes.
Approximately 1.7 million people, more than 80% of Gaza’s population, have been displaced, with about half of them concentrated in the southernmost part of the sector, according to the United Nations.
