UN staff member killed in Israeli strike on UN headquarters in Gaza

GAZA: A foreign national was killed and four others were wounded in an Israeli airstrike on the site of a United Nations headquarters in central Gaza City, Gaza’s health ministry said.

The Israeli military, which has resumed its bombardments in Gaza and issued new orders for residents to evacuate combat zones, denied in a statement that it had struck a U.N. compound in Deir al-Balah.

Bulgarian Foreign Ministry confirmed in a statement that one of its citizens working for the United Nations died in the Gaza Strip.

The ministry said further information will be made public after Bulgaria had been informed about the outcome of an investigation being carried out by the competent authorities into the circumstances surrounding the incident.

The UN announced that at least one United Nations staffer has been killed and at least five others injured – several very severely – following an explosion at their official premises in Deir al Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

The Deputy Spokesperson of the UN, Farhan Aziz Haq, told reporters at the regular noon briefing in New York that the UN was verifying and confirming the details, including the circumstances that led up to the incident, but it was not due to “any action” that was being taken by UN personnel to remove “unexploded ordinance”.

He said it was yet to be determined which party to the conflict in Gaza was responsible for the explosion as an investigation was ongoing.

According to media reports, the Israeli military – which has resumed deadly strikes in the Gaza Strip, killing hundreds since Monday – has denied attacking the compound.

“These premises were well known by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and they were ‘deconflicted’,” said, UNOPS chief Jorge Moreira da Silva, explaining that “everyone knew who was working inside the premises – it was UN personnel, UNOPS personnel.”

“This was not an accident, this was an incident,” he told journalists, adding that additional information is being collected.

“What we do know is that an explosive ordnance was dropped or fired at the infrastructure and detonated inside the building,” he said, adding it was unclear if it had been due to air-drop weapons, artillery or rocket fire.

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Da Silva stressed that attacks against humanitarian premises are a breach of international law.

“UN personnel and its premises must be protected by all sides. The civilian population relies on the UN for lifesaving assistance, they are an essential lifeline at the time of utter tragedy and devastation,” he said.

The incident took place at around 11:30 AM local time on Wednesday. It followed strikes on Tuesday that resulted in some damage, and “a near miss” on Monday, Da Silva said.

The UNOPS building is situated in an “isolated area” in Dier al Balah.