Foreign UN worker killed and five injured in strike on Gaza compound

Attack comes as Israeli ramps up attacks and begins ground operations in the Palestinian territory

A foreign worker injured in a strike on a UN compound in central Gaza on Wednesday is brought to Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir Al Balah. Reuters

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The UN on Wednesday confirmed that one of its foreign workers was killed and five other people were wounded in a non-accidental strike on a UN agency compound in the Gaza Strip.

The attack came as Israel began carrying out regular air strikes and resumed ground operations in the Palestinian territory following a two-month lull.

The UN Office for Project Services said the premises had also been hit on Tuesday, even though the location has been “deconflicted” with the Israeli military.

“This was not an accident, this was an incident. What’s happening in Gaza is unconscionable,” said UNOPS executive director Jorge Moreira da Silva. “I am shocked and devastated by this tragic news. I saw the absolute dedication of our team in Gaza last month. They and other UN workers and premises should never be targeted.”

Some sort of explosive ordnance was dropped on the compound in the central city of Deir Al Balah, UNOPS said, noting it was not clear if the blast was caused by a bomb, rocket or artillery fire.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for a full investigation into the incident.

The nationality of the UN staffer was not immediately released. UNOPS said five other people were injured, some of them severely.

Sources in the area confirmed the attack to The National. The Israeli army denied involvement, saying that it "did not strike a UN compound in Deir Al Balah" and calling on media outlets "to act with caution regarding unverified reports".

The attack happened a day after Israel launched its most intense attacks on the strip since a January 19 ceasefire with Hamas paused more than 15 months of war on the enclave. More than 400 people were killed, the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said.

Israel's military announced on Wednesday that it had launched ground operations in Gaza – the latest sign that it is dramatically expanding its campaign in the enclave despite attempts by mediators to salvage the ceasefire with Hamas.

The ground “activities” took place in central and southern Gaza, “in order to expand the security zone and to create a partial buffer between northern and southern Gaza”, the military said.

It said forces “expanded their control further to the centre of the Netzarim Corridor”, a term used by Israel to refer to a strip of land that cuts Gaza in half, which it controlled for much of the war.

Palestinian media reported sightings of Israeli tanks moving into parts of Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday's bombardments, which came after the collapse of talks on extending the first phase of the truce, were “only the beginning” and that future negotiations with Hamas “will take place only under fire”.

Israel has pledged to keep fighting until the return of all the remaining hostages held by Palestinian militants in the war-ravaged enclave. “From now on, negotiations will take place only under fire,” he said. “Military pressure is essential for the release of additional hostages”.

On Wednesday, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz issued a “final warning” to Gaza residents, saying they will “pay the full price” if they do not overthrow Hamas and return hostages held in the strip.

“The alternative is complete destruction and annihilation,” Mr Katz added.

The Israeli army has continued air strikes across Gaza since Tuesday's attacks, with Palestinian news agency Wafa reporting on Wednesday that at least 12 people had been killed overnight.

Two people were killed and five others injured when a drone attacked a tent sheltering displaced people in the Al Mawasi area in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, it said. A woman and a child were killed and three people injured in a separate air strike on a tent of displaced people west of Khan Younis, while four people were killed in an attack on another tent in the city. Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza city received four dead and a number of injured after an Israeli air strike on a house in Al Sabra neighbourhood.

Gaza's health ministry said 436 people were killed and 678 injured in Israeli attacks from Tuesday until noon on Wednesday, raising the total number of Palestinian casualties in the war to more than 49,500 dead and more that 112,700 injured.

Another 16 people were killed on Wednesday evening when Israeli jets struck a gathering of mourners in the northern town of Beit Lahia, Wafa said.

Negotiations reached a stalemate after the first phase of the ceasefire expired, with Israel and Hamas disagreeing over how to move forward to the next stage that intended to bring the war to an end. A team of Israeli negotiators were in Cairo for talks with mediators before the air strikes. Egyptian mediators had the impression that Israel would resume bombing Gaza after the Israeli negotiators told them that Hamas was recruiting, rearming and regrouping, sources told The National on Tuesday.

Hamas official Taher Al Nunu told AFP that the group has not closed the door on negotiations but "we insist there is no need for new agreements", calling for Israel to be forced to implement the ceasefire.

Hamas has not responded militarily and has issued a series of statements urging mediators and friendly countries to pressure the US and Israel into ending the strikes. The White House said Israel consulted US President Donald Trump's administration before launching the strikes, while Israel said the return to fighting was “fully co-ordinated” with Washington.

People walk amid the rubble of a building destroyed in an overnight Israeli air strike in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip. AFP

“We call on friendly countries to pressure the US administration to halt this aggression and genocidal war against defenceless civilians”, the group said.

The US said Hamas bore sole responsibility for the resumption of fighting and reiterated its support for ally Israel.

Former hostages and the families of some still held in Gaza expressed outrage over the resumption of war. Released hostage Yarden Bibas, whose wife and two young sons were slain in captivity, said on Facebook that Israel's return to fighting brought him back to Gaza, where he feared for his life. “Military pressure endangers hostages, an agreement brings them back,” he said.

Opponents of the bombing have also accused Mr Netanyahu of launching the new violence to further his political goals distract from the scandals that surround him domestically. His court testimony on Tuesday was cancelled due to the shock offensive in Gaza.

Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Wednesday that Israel's raids on Gaza "are shattering the tangible hopes of so many Israelis and Palestinians of an end to suffering on all sides".

The EU's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said she told Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar that the new wave of air strikes on Gaza was "unacceptable".

Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) called for restoring the ceasefire in Gaza.

"MSF calls for the ceasefire to be immediately restored and for Israel to not restart its campaign of destruction and the nightmarish, massive bombing on the people of Gaza," Claire Magone, general director for MSF France, said.

It also called for the blockade of the enclave to be lifted, and for people to regain unrestricted access to basic supplies and aid.

According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Israeli air strikes also targeted a military site in central Syria on Tuesday, a day after it struck Deraa and killed three civilians.