UN to pull a third of its international staff from Gaza, after one killed last week
Some 30 of 100 foreign workers to leave enclave; six were wounded in explosion for which Israel denies responsibility, but which UN says was likely caused by IDF tank fire
The United Nations said Monday it will “reduce its footprint” in the Gaza Strip after an incident at one of its compounds last week, in which one staffer from Bulgaria was killed and five other employees were wounded.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told a regular news briefing the move was taken for security and operational reasons and would involve the withdrawal of about 30 of the 100 or so international staff currently in Gaza.
“What we’re doing is reducing the number of international staff members by about one third this week, maybe a bit more likely to come. It’s a temporary measure. We hope to have people return to Gaza as soon as practicable,” he said.
He stressed that the UN was not leaving Gaza.
“The secretary-general has taken the difficult decision… even as humanitarian needs soar and our concern over the protection of civilians intensifies,” he said. “The organization remains committed to continuing to provide aid that civilians depend on for their survival and protection.”
Dujarric said that based on information currently available, explosions at a UN compound in Deir Al Balah on March 19, killing a Bulgarian UN worker and leaving six others — from France, Moldova, North Macedonia, the Palestine territories and the United Kingdom — with severe injuries, came from an Israeli tank.
“The location of this UN compound was well known to the parties to the conflict,” he said, noting that UN Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres had demanded “a full, thorough and independent investigation.”
Israel has denied it was behind the March 19 explosion at the UN guesthouse in central Gaza.
Asked if the UN believed the compound had been deliberately targeted, Dujarric said: “I think that’s one of the reasons we need to have a pretty clear and transparent investigation. The point is that the Israelis knew exactly where this UN facility was, and it was hit by a shell from one of their tanks.”
IDF says forces mistakenly fired at ICRC building
Separately, the Israeli military said its forces fired at a building on Monday belonging to the Red Cross in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah as a result of incorrect identification, after an office belonging to the aid organization was damaged by an explosive projectile.
The war in the Gaza Strip began on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists invaded southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.
Fighting stopped briefly in November 2023 amid a hostage-ceasefire agreement and then stopped again for some two months starting mid-January 2025, when another hostage-truce deal was reached.
The fighting resumed last week, though talks are ongoing to secure the release of more hostages in exchange for another truce.
The Times of Israel Community.