Dutch woman, 33, killed in Gaza Strip overnight, minister confirms
A 33-year-old Dutch woman who previously sought help to get out of the Gaza Strip died there on Saturday night, the Dutch foreign affairs minister, Hanke Bruins Slot, confirmed on Sunday. "She was one of 22 people on the ground who was in contact with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for consular support," the minister confirmed on X.
"We are continuing to consider every possible way to facilitate a safe departure from Gaza," she added. She offered her condolences to the 33-year-old woman's family and friends "at this terrible time." The woman lived in the Netherlands in the past, and had only been in the Gaza Strip for a short period of time.
According to NOS, the woman had traveled to the Gaza Strip with her family before the war broke out on October 7. She was there visiting family. She had tried several times in vain to cross the border with Egypt at Rafah, the broadcaster reported.
The cause and manner of her death was not immediately clear. Israel continued a series of retaliatory air strikes on Gaza between Saturday night and Sunday morning. This reportedly resulted in dozens of fatalities, authorities in the Gaza Strip said. More than 30 homes are also said to have been destroyed in new attacks. Hamas has claimed about 55 people died as a result.
Just over a week ago, the ministry confirmed there were at least ten Dutch people from two different families who were stuck in Gaza, and who were trying to get help from the Dutch government to leave the region. A spokesperson for the ministry said a week ago that their ability to provide assistance was limited.
"The Dutch Representation in the Palestinian territories is maintaining contact with these families as best as possible. We are doing everything we can to help them leave Gaza," a ministry spokesperson told NOS on October 13.
Israel has announced it will step up airstrikes ahead of an expected ground offensive in the Palestinian region controlled by Hamas, which is classified as a terrorist organization by the European Union. Israel's retaliatory strikes have killed about 4,400 people, including more that 1,750 children and about a thousand women. Another 13,600 have been injured in Gaza.
Israeli-Dutch boy held hostage in Gaza Strip
Hamas carried out a large scale surprise attack on Israel on October 7 in which 1,400 people were killed, over 4,600 were injured and 200 were taken hostage. It later emerged that among those kidnapped by the group is Ofir Engel, a young man with Dutch roots. He is 17 or 18 years of age, and has a great grandparent who is Dutch.
The Netherlands granted an emergency request from his family to give Engel citizenship as a way of putting more International pressure on Hamas to release hostages. The boy was visiting his girlfriend’s family on a kibbutz about ten kilometers from the Gaza Strip at the time of his kidnapping.
He was taken along with his girlfriend’s father. The girlfriend, her mother and her sisters managed to escape where they took shelter with a neighbor.
“We have to keep hope,” said his grandfather, 77-year-old Jucha Engel. “They sent a selfie around noon, but we didn’t hear anything after that.” He said that the family’s home had been torched, and the women were later found by Israeli soldiers.
“I have no words to express how it feels that the Netherlands is helping us so well.”
