Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
The IDF said Thursday it has revised its initial account of last month’s killing of a United Nations worker in Deir al-Balah, now concluding that the fatal wound was caused by Israeli tank fire.
In its first statement on the April 2025 incident, the military had maintained that no UN facility was struck. But after an inquiry led by Major General (res.) Yoav Har-Even, the findings were presented to Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and to UN representatives, the IDF said.
live
The evacuation of the wounded UN workers
“According to the evidence collected to date, the casualty resulted from tank fire by an IDF unit operating in the area,” the military said. It added that the structure was targeted on suspicion of harboring enemy combatants after it was not identified by the force as a UN facility.
Under Zamir’s direction, the inquiry is to be completed in the coming days once all supplementary information is received. He has also ordered that the full findings be shared with UN representatives. “We regret the unintentional harm to the UN worker and extend our condolences to the family,” the IDF said.
On the day of the attack, the AFP news agency reported that the victims were members of the UN’s mine-clearance team. Photographs from Gaza showed UNMAS personnel being evacuated to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Gaza City.
“The site that was bombed is located in an isolated area of the Strip and was known to the Israeli army, which is familiar with our facilities there,” UN officials said after the incident. “UN sites in Gaza must be protected, as strikes on them constitute a violation of international law. We reiterate our call for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.”
Get the Ynetnews app on your smartphone: Google Play: https://bit.ly/4eJ37pE | Apple App Store: https://bit.ly/3ZL7iNv
A few days after the Deir al-Balah incident — on the first day of renewed hostilities following the collapse of a ceasefire — IDF fire in Tal al-Sultan in southern Gaza killed nine medical personnel, paramedics and a UNRWA employee. An IDF probe into that strike cited a series of errors and malfunctions by a Golani Brigade unit lying in ambush on the road out of Tal al-Sultan, but concluded there was no malicious intent, no unethical conduct and that no Palestinian was executed, coerced or buried alive, as some Palestinian sources and international headlines had alleged.