UNICEF has launched an investigation into an unnamed attack on a UN vehicle in Rafah on Monday that claimed the lives of its first international team members since October 7, according to a UN Secretary General’s spokesman.
Waibhav Anil Kale, a retired American Army officer, was traveling with a colleague who was also hurt in the attack to the German Hospital in Rafah while the staff member was working with the UN Department of Safety and Security.
In some of the most intense attacks in decades, Israel has been expanding its footprint into Rafah in southern Gaza, where more than a million people had sought shelter. On Tuesday, its troops pound the enclave’s north in one of the greatest problems in a while.
Israel claims that four Hamas troops are ensnared in Rafah, where some Palestinians have fled, on numerous occasions. Israel demands that it expel the remaining soldiers.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres reiterated an “urgent charm for an urgent humanitarian peace and for the transfer of all victims” in a statement released on Monday, stating that the issue in Gaza was continuing to have a significant impact on both residents and humanitarian workers.
Israeli health officials say Israel’s ground and air battle in Gaza since Oct. 7 has killed more than 35, 000 people and fueled most of the enclave’s 2.3 million people from their homes.
His assistant director Farhan Haq claimed on Tuesday that the UN had established a fact-finding panel to determine the extent of the attack.
” It’s very early in the investigation, and details of the incident are still being verified with the Israeli Defence Force”, he said.
There are 71 global UN staff people in Gaza now, he said.
In its just comment on the matter but, India’s vision to the UN confirmed Kale’s identification on Tuesday, saying it was “deeply saddened” by his damage.
Israel, which launched its Gaza activity after an assault on Oct. 7 by Hamas- led militants who killed some 1, 200 individuals and took more than 250 victims, according to its counts, has ordered civilians to leave parts of Rafah.
UNRWA, the main aid organization in Gaza, says that since May 6 about 450 000 people have eluded the city. More than a million people from around the world had sought refuge there.
