UN Worker Killed in Gaza While Israel-Gaza War Ensues

A UN staff member was killed and another injured when their vehicle was struck in Gaza. The UN condemned the attack and called for an investigation, as the Israeli military suggested it was an active combat zone.

A staff member of the UN was killed and another injured when their UN vehicle was hit while they were traveling toward a Rafah hospital in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday. The UN was not sure who had executed the attack.

The UN spokesperson, Farhan Haq, has reportedly said that the staff members were international workers, not Palestinians. He noted that the death of this international UN staff member was the first UN staff member death recorded in Gaza since the conflict started last October.

In the statement, the UN secretary-general, António Guterres, said he unequivocally condemned the attack and called for a full inquiry, expressing he was "deeply saddened" by the staff member's death.

The armed forces of Israel preliminary found that the UN car was hit in the zone of active hostilities and it was not informed about the route of the car. Pictures provided by the BBC and shown were the marked UN vehicle with multiple bullet holes outside the European Hospital.

The case occurred during the time that Israel commenced a military campaign on October 7th, 2018, which was targeting Hamas, the militant group controlling Gaza. The campaign was a response to cross border Hamas attack on southern Israel which resulted in the killing of about 1,200 people and taking 252 hostages.

Also Read: U.N. Security Council ask to stop the war for a Gaza ceasefire

Since October, the death toll in Gaza has reached 35,090 people and the health ministry of the region has revealed this fact. Only this month, six international aid workers of the World Central Kitchen charity and a Palestinian colleague were claimed by an Israeli strike making people across the globe furious.