UN plans to downsize international team in Gaza due to Israeli strikes

UN spokesperson Stephan Dujarric said in a news briefing on Monday that approximately 30 of the UN’s 100 or so international staff would leave Gaza this week, admitting that the withdrawal comes at a time when humanitarian needs have soared and “concern over the protection of civilians intensifies”.

Dujarric stated the “temporary measure” was a “difficult decision” taken by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for security and operational reasons.

The UN spokesman also confirmed that an Israeli tank was responsible for the attack on a UN compound in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, on March 19, that killed a Bulgarian UN staff member and left six other foreign staff with severe injuries.

Dujarric’s statement was the UN’s first to implicate Israeli forces in the attack on the clearly marked UN site. It comes after Israel’s military repeatedly denied that it was responsible for the strike, which came a day after Israel broke its ceasefire agreement with Hamas after just two months of relative peace.

Dujarric also added that Secretary-General Guterres has demanded “a full, thorough and independent investigation” into the tank attack on the UN compound on March 19.

Israel had claimed that it struck a Hamas site where preparations were being made to fire into Israeli territory.

When asked whether the UN believed the Israeli tank attack was a deliberate strike on the UN’s facility, which Israeli forces knew the exact location of, Dujarric noted: “I think that’s one of the reasons we need to have a pretty clear and transparent investigation.”

On Monday, the Israeli military admitted to firing on a building belonging to the Red Cross in Rafah, south of Gaza, blaming the attack on the clearly marked humanitarian organisation’s building as a case of mistaken identity.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said its office in Rafah was damaged by an explosive projectile, though no staff were hurt. The damage has had a direct impact on the ICRC’s ability to operate, the organisation added, without specifying who was behind the explosion.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel’s war on Gaza has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians and wounded some 113,200 more in the territory, health officials announced.