Tank fire killed UN worker in Gaza, initial Israeli army probe says

JERUSALEM

Israeli tank fire killed a U.N. worker in Gaza last month, according to initial findings from an investigation released Thursday by Israel's military, which initially denied operating in the area.

The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) announced on March 19 the death of one of its employees in the central Gaza city of Deir el-Balah when an unidentified piece of "explosive ordnance" hit their building.

"According to the findings collected so far, the examination indicates that the fatality was caused by tank fire from IDF [Israeli military] troops operating in the area," the military said in a statement.

"The building was struck due to assessed enemy presence and was not identified by the forces as a U.N. facility."

At the time, an Israeli army spokesman told AFP that "there was no IDF operational activity there and that the IDF didn't strike the UN compound."

Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein also said on March 19 that "the initial examination found no connection... whatsoever" to Israeli military activity, though the circumstances were under investigation.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric later said "an Israeli tank" had hit the U.N. compound, killing a Bulgarian employee and severely wounding six others.

The killing came a day after Israel renewed its intense bombardment of the Palestinian territory following the collapse of a two-month ceasefire with Hamas Palestinian militants.

In its statement on Thursday, Israel's military said it "regrets this serious incident and continues to conduct thorough review processes... to prevent such events in the future."

"We express our deep sorrow for the loss and send our condolences to the family," it added.

The military said it had shared its initial findings with the U.N.

Bulgaria said Thursday it had "received an official apology from Israel" following the announcement.

Bulgaria's Foreign Minister Georg Georgiev called for "such tragedies not to happen again," stressing that "the protection of humanitarian workers is a top priority" in a statement.

The latest investigation findings come after the military last Sunday reported on a separate probe into the killing of 15 Palestinian emergency workers in Gaza. The military admitted that mistakes led to their deaths and said a field commander would be dismissed.

Meanwhile, Gaza rescue teams and medics said Israeli air strikes killed at least 55 people on Thursday, as the military threatened an even larger offensive if hostages were not freed soon.

Israel resumed its military assault in the Gaza Strip on March 18, after the collapse of a two-month ceasefire that had brought a temporary halt to fighting in the blockaded Palestinian territory.

Israel's army chief, visiting troops in Gaza on Thursday, threatened to expand the offensive in Gaza if hostages seized during Hamas' Oct. 7. 2023 attack on Israel were not released.

"If we do not see progress in the return of the hostages in the near future, we will expand our activities to a larger and more significant operation," Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir said.

The warning came as the army issued fresh evacuation orders for northern areas of Gaza ahead of a planned attack.

Earlier in the day, six members of one family, a couple and their four children, were killed when an air strike levelled their home in northern Gaza City, the civil defence agency said in a statement.

Nidal al-Sarafiti, a relative, said the strike happened as the family was sleeping.

"What can I say? The destruction has spared no one," he told AFP.

Nine people were killed and several wounded in another strike on a former police station in the Jabalia area of northern Gaza, according to a statement from the Indonesian hospital, where the casualties were taken.

"Everyone started running and screaming, not knowing what to do from the horror and severity of the bombing," said Abdel Qader Sabah, 23, from Jabalia.

Israel's military said it struck a Hamas "command and control centre" in the area but did not say whether it was the police station.

In another deadly attack, the bodies of 12 people were recovered after the Hajj Ali family home, also in Jabalia, was struck, the civil defence said.

Another 28 people were killed in strikes across the territory, medics and the civil defence agency reported.

They came as the Israeli military ordered Palestinians living in the northern areas of Beit Hanoun and Sheikh Zayed to evacuate ahead of an attack.

"Due to ongoing terrorist activities and sniper fire against IDF troops in the area, the IDF is intensely operating in the area," the military's Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X.

The United Nations has warned that Israel's expanding evacuation orders across Gaza are resulting in the "forcible transfer" of people into ever-shrinking areas.

Aid agencies estimate that the vast majority of Gaza's 2.4 million residents have been displaced at least once since the war began.

Israel resumed its intense aerial and ground assault across Gaza from March 18, ending a two-month ceasefire with Hamas that had largely halted fighting in the territory.

Since Israel resumed its military operations, at least 1,978 people have been killed in Gaza, raising the overall death toll to at least 51,355 since the war began, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.