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A day after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) resumed operations in Gaza, Hamas claimed on Wednesday afternoon that an international UN staff member was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a UN facility in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza.
Later, a UN official told AFP that two UN employees had been killed in the strike. According to the report, both victims were part of a United Nations Mine Action Service demining team.
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Evacuation of injured UN workers in Deir al-Balah
The AFP report did not attribute responsibility for the strike to either the IDF or Hamas. However, Hamas accused the IDF of carrying out the attack, claiming six UN workers were injured. In response, the IDF said that, contrary to Hamas' claims, it had not targeted any UN facility.
Prior to Hamas' announcement, the Palestinian Shehab News Agency reported that five UN staff members were wounded in what it described as an Israeli strike and were transported to a hospital in Deir al-Balah. Hamas later stated that six UN workers had been injured and that one had died from his wounds. Qatar-based Al Araby TV added that the individuals were members of the UN's mine-clearing team.
Images from Gaza showed UNMAS staff being transported to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah.
“These premises were well known by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and they were ‘deconflicted’,” said, UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) Executive Director Jorge Moreira da Silva, explaining that “everyone knew who was working inside the premises – it was UN personnel, UNOPS personnel.”
He added that: “UN personnel and its premises must be protected by all sides. The civilian population relies on the UN for lifesaving assistance, they are an essential lifeline at the time of utter tragedy and devastation."
He said that Israeli airstrikes had previously targeted the area when fighting resumed and that the site was directly hit again on Wednesday. “After the first strike, we contacted the Israeli military and confirmed they knew we were there,” he added.
Meanwhile, the IDF said it had struck a Hamas battalion headquarters overnight, along with dozens of terrorists and rocket launch sites. “The battalion headquarters of the Hamas terrorist organization in Daraj Tuffah was targeted. Numerous terrorist operations against Israeli civilians and IDF troops were planned there,” the military said in a statement.
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Additionally, the IDF and Shin Bet confirmed that Yasser Mohammed Harb Musa, the head of security in Hamas’ political bureau and director of the movement's development office, was killed during the renewed fighting. “Musa was involved in planning and directing terrorist activities against Israel and was closely connected to Hamas leadership, including Yahya Sinwar,” the statement read.
The IDF and Shin Bet also confirmed the death of Mohammad al-Jamassi, head of Hamas' emergency committee in Gaza. “Al-Jamassi held key positions in Hamas’ political bureau and leadership and played a central role in governing the Gaza Strip and directing terror plots against Israel,” the military said.
Reports from Gaza claimed that 29 people had been killed in Israeli strikes since Wednesday morning, including casualties in Beit Lahia and the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City.