A Dutchman honoured by Israel for hiding a Jewish child during World War Two has handed back his medal after six of his relatives were killed in an Israeli air strike on Gaza.

Henk Zanoli, who is now 91, wrote to the Israeli embassy in The Hague to say he could no longer hold the honour, according to a report in Israel’s Haaretz newspaper.

Zanoli and his mother were awarded the ‘Righteous Among the Nations’ honour by Israel in 2011 for helping to shelter a Jewish child. The award is given to non-Jews who risked their lives to protect Jews from the Nazis.

‘The great-great grandchildren of my mother have lost their grandmother, three uncles, an aunt and a cousin at the hands of the Israeli military,’ the BBC quoted the letter as saying.

‘To hold on to the honour … would be an insult… to those in my family, four generations on, who lost no less than six of their relatives in Gaza,’ the retired laywer said.