A UN spokeswoman claimed that Israeli forces fired and rammed a convoy carrying UN supplies, holding it for hours in Gaza.
On Monday, Israeli soldiers stopped the caravan at the Wadi Gaza gate, which was carrying individuals involved in a polio vaccination campaign.
The situation escalated when the soldiers pointed rifles at the UN employees and rammed the vehicles with tanks and bulldozers. They also asked to question the two Palestinian staff members who were on board.
Stéphane Dujarric, a spokesman for the UN, verified that shots were fired during the incident and that debris was dumped on one of the vehicles.
After being held for more than seven hours, the convoy was eventually freed, and the crew made it back to a UN base without incident. The vaccination effort continued in northern Gaza in spite of the experience.
This conflict comes after a string of documented events involving gunshots and detentions at checkpoints between Israeli soldiers and UN staff.
With 172 aid workers killed so far in 2024, the Aid Worker Security Database indicates that this year’s death toll may be surpassed.
At least eighteen individuals were killed when Israel’s military launched an airstrike on the central Gaza campus of the UN-run al-Jaouni school.
The manager of the shelter was among the six UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) employees that perished.
During the ongoing 11-month war, this incident represents the highest number of UNRWA staff members killed in a single attack.
Guterres denounces the UN staff deaths in Gaza and the lack of accountability.
The killing of UN employees and aid workers in the ongoing Israeli attack on Gaza has been sharply denounced by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who also referred to the absence of responsibility for these murders as “completely unacceptable.”
In her remarks on Wednesday, Guterres emphasized Gaza’s flagrant disregard for international humanitarian law as well as the lack of adequate civilian protection.
Over two thirds of the dead were humanitarian workers employed by the UN. Guterres called for comprehensive investigations into the murders of nearly 300 workers and denounced Israel for disobeying recent decisions made by the International Court of Justice and the UN Security Council.
In related news, US, Egypt, and Qatar-led mediation efforts continue to have the resounding backing of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
UN has also demanded responsibility and raised concern over the safety of its humanitarian workers in the region.
