Israel-Gaza war: UN says Indian staff member killed in Gaza
The United Nations reported the unfortunate incident where one of its personnel lost their life while another sustained injuries during their journey to a hospital in southern Gaza on Monday.
Identified by India’s mission to the UN in New York, the deceased staff member was named Col Waibhav Kale, affiliated with the UN Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) in Gaza.
According to the UN, the employees were en route to the European Hospital near Rafah in a UN vehicle when it came under attack. The responsible party for the assault was not specified.
This marks the first death of an international UN worker in Gaza since the conflict began. The Israeli military stated that an initial inquiry indicated the vehicle was hit in an active combat zone, and they were unaware of its route.
Contrarily, the UN asserted that the vehicle was marked, and its intended movements had been communicated in advance to Israeli authorities. Rolando Gomez, a UN spokesman in Geneva, emphasized that informing Israeli authorities about convoy movements is standard protocol.
Video footage circulating on social media, verified by the BBC, depicts a UN vehicle riddled with bullet holes outside the European Hospital.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed receiving a report from the UNDSS detailing the injury of two of its workers in the Rafah area of southern Gaza on Monday.
The IDF added that the incident was under review.
India’s mission to the UN in New York said its “deepest condolences are with the family” of Col Kale, who Indian media reports was a former member of the Indian army.
UN secretary-general António Guterres said he was “deeply saddened” to learn of the worker’s death and sent his condolences to their family, his spokesman Farhan Haq said in a statement.
“The secretary-general condemns all attacks on UN personnel and calls for a full investigation,” Mr Haq added.
In a separate statement, Mr Guterres said more than 190 UN staff had been killed in Gaza since the war began.
While Col Kale is the first international casualty for the UN, six international aid workers and a Palestinian colleague from the international food charity World Central Kitchen were killed in an Israeli strike at the start of April.
Their deaths sparked an international outcry and the IDF sacked two senior officers over the incident which it described as a “grave accident”.
Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza with the stated aim of destroying Hamas – which controls Gaza – in response to the group’s cross-border attack on southern Israel on 7 October, during which about 1,200 people were killed and 252 others were taken hostage.
More than 35,090 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
