WASHINGTON (AP) An Israeli airstrike killed a U.S. Agency for International Development contractor in Gaza last month, his colleagues said in a statement Saturday. The U.S. development agency noted the death and urged greater protection for humanitarian workers in the fighting there .

Hani Jnena, 33, was killed Nov. 5 along with his wife, their 2-year-old and 4-year-old daughters, and her family, the U.S.-based humanitarian group Global Communities said.

An internet-technology worker, Jnena had fled his neighborhood in Gaza City with his family to escape the airstrikes, only to be killed while sheltering with his in-laws, the group said. His employer was an on-the-ground partner for USAID, the U.S. agency said.

The Washington Post first reported the death.

In a final message to a colleague, Hani had written, my daughters are terrified, and I am trying to keep them calm, but this bombing is terrifying, Global Communities said.

It was a rare report of the killing of someone with U.S.-government ties in the more than two-month war between Israel and Hamas. Numerous workers with local and international aid agencies, including more than 100 U.N. workers, have been killed in Gaza as Israel bombards areas crowded with civilians and battles with Hamas fighters on the ground.