Today's Edition
GAZA (WAM)
At least one UN staffer has been killed and at least five others injured – several very severely – following an explosion at two UN guesthouses in Deir al Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Wednesday, according to UN News.
The UN is verifying and confirming the details, including the circumstances that led up to the incident at the compound,, but it was not due to “any action” that was being taken by UN personnel to remove “unexploded ordinance”, the head of the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) said during a press conference in Brussels.
“These premises were well known by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and they were ‘deconflicted’,” said, UNOPS chief Jorge Moreira da Silva, explaining that “everyone knew who was working inside the premises – it was UN personnel, UNOPS personnel.”
“This was not an accident, this was an incident,” he told journalists, adding that additional information is being collected.
“What we do know is that an explosive ordnance was dropped or fired at the infrastructure and detonated inside the building,” he said, adding it was unclear if it had been due to air-drop weapons, artillery or rocket fire.
Da Silva stressed that attacks against humanitarian premises are a breach of international law.
