By WAFAA SHURAFA and JULIA FRANKEL and SAMY MAGDY, Associated Press
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — An international United Nations staffer was killed and five others were wounded in a strike Wednesday on a U.N. guesthouse in the Gaza Strip.
Jorge Moreira da Silva, head of the U.N. Office for Project Services, declined to say who carried out the strike in the central city of Deir al-Balah but said the explosive ordnance was “dropped or fired” and the blast was not accidental or related to demining activity.
He did not provide the nationalities of those killed and wounded. The U.N. body, known as UNOPS, carries our infrastructure and development projects around the world.
The Israeli military, which has carried out a heavy wave of airstrikes since early Tuesday, denied earlier reports that it had targeted the U.N. compound.
But Moreira da Silva said strikes had hit near the compound on Monday and struck it directly on Tuesday and again on Wednesday, when the staffer was killed. He said the agency had contacted the Israeli military after the first strike and confirmed that it was aware of the facility’s location.
“Israel knew this was a U.N. premise, that people were living, staying and working there,” he said.
There have been no reports of rocket fire or other Palestinian militant attacks since Israel unleashed the airstrikes overnight and into Tuesday, ending a ceasefire that took hold in January. The Israeli bombardment continued into Wednesday, though at a lower intensity.
The Gaza Health Ministry said at least 436 people, including 183 children and 94 women, have been killed since Israel launched the strikes early Tuesday. It said another 678 people have been wounded.
The military says it only strikes militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas because it operates in densely populated areas. Gaza’s Health Ministry records do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Frankel reported from Jerusalem and Magdy from Cairo.
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