The United Nations said one staff member was killed and another was injured as they arrived at a hospital in southern Gaza on Monday.
The Indian Mission to the United Nations in New York named the employee as Colonel Waibhav Kale, who worked for the United Nations Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) in Gaza.
The United Nations said the workers were traveling in a United Nations vehicle to the European Hospital near Rafah when they were attacked.
It did not mention who was responsible for the attack.
The United Nations said this was the first death of a United Nations international staff member in Gaza since the conflict began.
The Israeli army said an initial investigation showed the vehicle was attacked in an ongoing war zone and that it was unaware of its route.
However, the United Nations said the vehicle was clearly marked and its travel plans had been notified in advance to Israeli authorities.
Rolando Gomez, a United Nations spokesman in Geneva, said the United Nations had informed Israeli authorities about the movements of all its convoys in Gaza.
“This is a standard operating procedure,” Mr. Gomez said in a news conference. That was the case yesterday morning.”
Footage posted on social media and verified by the BBC shows a UN vehicle with multiple bullet holes outside the European Hospital.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed it received a report from UNDSS that two of its workers were injured in the Rafah area – south of Gaza – on Monday.
The IDF added that the incident is under review.
The Indian mission to the United Nations in New York said it sent its “deepest condolences to the family” of Colonel Kale, who Indian media reported was a former member of the Indian army.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he was “deeply saddened” to learn of the workers’ deaths and sent condolences to their families, his spokesman, Farhan Haq, said in a statement. declare, outside.
“The Secretary-General condemns all attacks on United Nations personnel and calls for a comprehensive 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 was the United Nations’ first international victim, six international aid workers and a Palestinian colleague from international food charity World Central Kitchen were injured. killed in an Israeli attack in early April.
Their deaths sparked an international outcry and the IDF fired two senior officers over the incident, which they described as a “serious accident”.
Israel launched a military operation 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 October 7, which resulted in about 1,200 people were killed and another 252 were taken hostage.
According to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, more than 35,090 people have been killed in Gaza since then.
