Israel News
Israel Demands Belgian Apology After Gaza Aid Worker’s Possible Hamas Link Emerges
Belgium condemned the 2024 strike that killed Enabel employee Abdallah Nabhan and summoned Israel’s ambassador. Newly surfaced material now appears to show Nabhan in uniform and describes him as a Hamas fighter.
Abdullah Nabhan (Under Section 27A)Israel’s embassy in Belgium has demanded an apology from Brussels over its condemnation of an Israeli strike that killed an employee of the Belgian development agency Enabel in Gaza in 2024, after newly surfaced material appeared to link Nabhan to Hamas.
The embassy pointed to a post published by a channel affiliated with Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade that described Abdallah Nabhan as a “mujahid” and showed him wearing a military-style uniform. The material has not been independently verified.
Nabhan, 33, worked as a business development officer for Enabel and was killed in an Israeli strike in eastern Rafah in April 2024. His seven-year-old son Jamal was also killed, along with several other members of his family.
Belgian officials strongly condemned the strike at the time. Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib said she would summon Israel’s ambassador to demand an explanation, while Development Cooperation Minister Caroline Gennez accused Israel of violating international and humanitarian law.
“The Israeli Embassy is owed an apology,” Israel’s embassy in Brussels wrote on X on Sunday.
The embassy said Belgium had condemned Israel before the full facts surrounding Nabhan were known.
“Before rushing to condemn Israel, facts matter,” the embassy wrote. It added that “a public apology would be preferable, but a private one will be accepted.”
Enabel described Nabhan after his death as a dedicated employee who had worked for the agency since 2020, helping small businesses in Gaza. The agency also said Nabhan appeared on a list of staff members authorized to leave Gaza that it had previously submitted to Israeli authorities.
The new material comes as Hamas and other terrorist groups in Gaza have begun publicly identifying some fighters killed during the war. In several cases, those disclosures have prompted renewed scrutiny of people initially described as civilians or journalists.
Belgium had not publicly responded to Israel’s demand as of the latest reports.
