UN Official Killed in Gaza After UN Informed Israel of His Movement
The United Nations said Tuesday that it had informed the Israeli authorities of the movements of a vehicle carrying UN staff which was hit in southern Gaza, killing a UN official.

One UN security services member was killed and another wounded in the attack on Monday, the United Nations said, marking the first death of a UN employee in Gaza since the war began.

The employee killed was an Indian national, UN spokesman Rolando Gomez told a media briefing.

"We are deeply saddened by the loss of Col Waibhav Kale, working for the UN Department of Safety and Security in Gaza," India's mission to the UN in New York confirmed on X.

A second UN DSS staff member who was in the vehicle at the time was wounded in the attack, Gomez said, adding that the two had been traveling to the European Hospital in Rafah when their vehicle was hit.

"The UN informs Israeli authorities of the movement of all of our convoys. That has been the case in any theater of operation. This is a standard operating procedure," said Gomez.


"This was the case yesterday (Monday) morning, so we have informed them. And it was a clearly marked UN vehicle."

When asked about the attack, the Israeli military sent AFP a statement apparently drafted on Monday saying that "an initial inquiry conducted indicates that the vehicle was hit in an area declared an active combat zone," the military said, maintaining that it had "not been made aware of the route of the vehicle".

Gomez said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had called for a full investigation.

While Monday's attack marked the first UN international employee killed in the Gaza war, a large number of local staff have been killed.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, alone has lost 188 of its 13,000 Gaza staff, according to UN figures.

With AFP
Comments
  • No comment yet