The United Nations says it will “reduce its footprint” in the Gaza Strip after an Israeli tank strike hit one of its compounds last week, killing one staffer and wounding five others.
Israel has denied it was behind the March 19 explosion at the UN guesthouse in central Gaza. In a statement today, UN Secretary-General spokesman Stéphane Dujarric says that “based on the information currently available,” the strikes on the site “were caused by an Israeli tank.”
The IDF did not immediately comment.
Dujarric says the UN “has made the difficult decision to reduce the organization’s footprint in Gaza, even as humanitarian needs soar.”
He says the world body is cutting back about a third of its approximately 100 international staffers in Gaza. He says the UN “is not leaving Gaza,” pointing out that it still has about 13,000 national staff in Gaza, mainly working for UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
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Monday, March 24, 2025
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