NEW DELHI:An unidentified strike on a UN vehicle in Rafah on Monday is being investigated by the United Nations to have claimed lives of its first international staff members since October 7, according to the spokesperson for the UN Secretary General.
The staff worker who died as a result of this attack was an ex Indian Army officer called Waibhav Anil Kale who was working with United Nations Security and Safety Department and had been enroute European Hospital together with another injured colleague.
Israel has pushed further into southern Gaza’s Rafah where over one million people had taken refuge, while its forces struck at the north of the enclave on Tuesday during some of the heaviest bombing in months.
Israeli allies from around the world and humanitarian aid agencies have repeatedly cautioned against a land invasion into Rafah where many Palestinians had escaped to while Israel insists that four Hamas battalions are still present. Israel for its part must eliminate any remaining fighters within it.
In his reaction after Kale’s death on Monday, Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary General re-emphasized his “urgent appeal for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and for release of all detainees,” saying that Gaza conflict continues to take heavy tolls “not only among civilians but also humanitarians.”
According to Palestinian health authorities, Israeli ground and air campaigns against Gaza since 7th October have killed more than thirty five thousand people and displaced nearly three quarters of Gazans totaling about two point three million individuals.
On Tuesday, his deputy spokesman Farhan Haq stated that a fact-finding panel has been set up by UN seeking to establish those behind like attacks.
“It is very early in our investigation because we are still confirming details about the incident with Israeli Defence Force,” he said
He added there are currently approximately seventy one international employees working for United Nations in Gaza.
On Tuesday India’s mission confirmed Kale’s identification as reported by The Hindu adding that they were “deeply saddened” by the tragedy.
According to Israeli lists, this is because on October 7, 2003, Hamas-operated gunmen attacked killing over two thousand people and taking more than one hundred hostages hence it started its mission in Gaza.
Most of them have fled from the city since May 6th, with about 450 thousand persons affected according to the main United Nations agency for aid in Gaza called UNRWA. More than a million civilians had sought refuge there.
