The United Nations said that a staff member was killed when one of its convoys came under fire in Rafah on Monday. It was the first time an international U.N. staff member has been killed in Gaza since the conflict began in October.
The convoy, which the U.N. said was clearly marked with the emblem of the organization, was on its way to the European Gaza Hospital in Khan Younis to assess the aid and security situation when it came under fire, according to Farhan Haq, a U.N. spokesman.
Another staff member was injured in the attack, the U.N. said.
The nationality of the killed worker, a man, was not immediately announced. Jordan’s foreign ministry confirmed in a statement that the injured staff member, a woman, was Jordanian and said the incident was “a result of Israel’s expansion of military operations in Rafah,” adding that Jordan “holds Israel responsible for this.”
In addition to the more than 35,000 Palestinians killed in Israel’s war with Hamas, according to the Gazan health authorities, the conflict has been the deadliest one for the U.N. in its history. More than 190 U.N. staff members have been killed, Mr. Haq said, all Palestinians except for the staff member killed on Monday.
“Humanitarian workers must be protected,” António Guterres, the U.N. secretarygeneral, said in a post on social media. “I condemn all attacks on U.N. personnel and reiterate my urgent appeal for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire & the release of all hostages.”
One senior U.N. official, who was briefed on the incident by security officials in Gaza, said an initial assessment indicated that the convoy was not struck from the air and was not caught in crossfire.
