Israel-Gaza war: UN says Indian staff member killed in Gaza

Israel-Gaza war: UN says Indian staff member killed in Gaza

Israel-Gaza war: UN says Indian staff member killed in Gaza

New Delhi  : The United Nations (UN) had informed Israeli authorities of the movements of a vehicle carrying UN staff that was hit in southern Gaza, killing former Indian Army colonel Waibhav Kale.

The death of Col Kale (retd), who had joined the UN security services two months back, was the first of an Indian and a UN international employee in the Palestinian territory since the Israel-Hamas conflict began over seven months ago. Video footage of the white car with UN markings showed its windscreen riddled with bullet holes.

“The UN informs Israeli authorities of the movement of all of our convoys. That has been the case in any theatre of operation. This is a standard operating procedure. This was the case yesterday morning so we have informed them. And it was a clearly marked UN vehicle,” said UN spokesperson Rolando Gomez at a media briefing in New York.

But the Israeli military said it had “not been made aware of the route of the vehicle”. “The incident is under review,” it added.

While Kale’s death was mourned by the UN and the US State Department called it “incredibly disturbing”, there was no word from External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar or the MEA’s X handle. Rather Jaishankar wished a happy national day to his Israeli counterpart. Only India's Permanent Mission in New York condoled Col Kale's killing.

The US State Department dwelt at length on the incident. “The reports from yesterday evening are incredibly disturbing. And we are very concerned by what we’re seeing of the reported strike on a UN vehicle in Gaza that killed one aid worker and injured another. You’ve heard me say this before, you’ve heard the Secretary say it: UN and humanitarian workers must be protected, and they need to be able to continue their life-saving work. And we join calls for a full investigation into this incident,’’ said State Department Deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel at a media briefing when asked if after the deaths of 250 local aid workers, the US still believed Israel is not targeting them.

Patel said he expected Israel to follow through with the new IDF coordination cell for real-time humanitarian efforts. “And we emphasise that there needs to be a focus on safeguarding designated sites, safeguarding aid personnel and civilians,” he underlined.