An Israeli employee’s death, according to the UN, was attributed to an Israeli pond attack on his car this week in Gaza.
Former Indian military officer Col Waibhav Kale passed away on Monday after a UN car was struck close to the city of Rafah. Another employee was injured.
Col Kale’s suicide is the first for an international UN employee to have been in Gaza since the start of the conflict.
The incident is currently being investigated, according to the Israel Defense Forces ( IDF).
UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq stated on Wednesday that there was” no doubt” that shots from an Israeli tank had struck the back of the vehicle, which was clearly marked as a UN vehicle.
Mr. Haq stated that the organization was in conversation with Israeli authorities about the circumstances surrounding the assault and was interested in knowing how it occurred.
He added that a fact-finding panel had been set up by the UN Department of Safety and Security ( UNDSS), which was in charge of the two staffers.
Prior to the earlier incident, the workers ‘ vehicle had been struck while they were traveling to the European Hospital close to Rafah.
A noticeable UN vehicle with numerous bullet holes was captured on video posted on social media and verified by the BBC.
An initial investigation, according to the Jewish military, revealed the car was struck in a combat zone and that it had not been given any knowledge of its location.
However, the UN claimed that the vehicle’s location was clear and that Israeli officials had been informed of its planned activities in advance.
Col. Kale, 46, was a resident of Maharashtra in northern India, and he had just joined the UNDSS in Gaza. His second implementation in the area was this.
” He told me that he had joined the UN because it seemed like the best way to make a difference”, Gilles Michaud, the Beneath- Secretary- General for Safety and Security, said in a speech.
He pledged to work in the most dangerous spot, at a time of unfathomable issue, to assist those who crucify needing it the most. This speaks volumes about his persona”, he said.
Kale had spent 22 years in the American army before he opted for an early retirement, he eventually worked in a private company, his relatives told BBC Marathi.
But angry with a desk work, he joined the UNDSS in April.
” Waibhav Kale, an Indian, had nothing to do with Hamas or Israel or this war. He has, however, given his life to pursue harmony. Now, peace may become restored in Gaza”, his aunt Chinmay Kale told local media.
India’s vision to the UN in New York said its “deepest sympathies are with the home” of Col Kale.
UN secretary- public António Guterres said on Monday that he was “deeply saddened” to know of the farmer’s death and sent his condolences to their home, Mr Farhan Haq said in a statement.
More than 190 UN employees have been killed in Gaza since the war started, according to Mr. Guterres in a individual speech.
Six foreign aid workers and a Arab colleague from the Arab food donation World Central Kitchen were among the victims of the Israeli strike at the beginning of April.
The IDF fired two senior officers after their deaths due to what the organization called a “grave incident” and their deaths sparked a global uproar.
In response to the team’s cross-border attack on southwestern Israel on October 7, which resulted in about 1, 200 fatalities and 252 hostages, Israel launched a military plan in Gaza with the stated goal of destroying Hamas, which controls Gaza.
More than 35, 090 people have been killed in Gaza since therefore, according to the state’s Hamas- run health department.
Malu Cursino provided further monitoring in London.
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