New Delhi: A former Indian army officer, who was working as a UN security officer, was killed in an Israeli strike on a vehicle marked with UN flags in Rafah en route to a hospital in southern Gaza on Monday.
The UN announced that one of its staff members was killed and another injured in the attack on the official vehicle of the global body.
The victim had been identified as Colonel Waibhav Anil Kale, who joined the United Nations as a Security Coordination officer just two months ago, as per informed sources. He had taken premature retirement from the Indian Army in 2022.
According to his LinkedIn profile, after leaving the army, Kale worked in programme management at Amazon. He also did some short-term management courses from the Indian Institutes of Management in Lucknow and Indore.
The announcement about Kale’s death was made by UN Secretary General’s deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq, who also told reports that Israeli side was informed “of the movement of all our convoys”.
He also stated that all UN vehicles were clearly marked.
This is the first international casualty of the United Nations since the start of the current Gaza conflict on October 7. Till now, around 190 UN staff had been killed in Gaza.
“With the conflict in Gaza continuing to take a heavy toll – not only on civilians, but also on humanitarian workers – the Secretary-General reiterates his urgent appeal for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and for the release of all hostages,” said Haq.
The UN in its statement did not mention who had fired at the vehicle.
UN secretary general Antonio Guterres said that he was “deeply saddened” and called for a “full investigation”.
The Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations, New York said it was “deeply saddened by the loss”.
US state department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the US was “deeply concerned” by the strike and joined calls for a “full investigation into the incident”.
“Humanitarian workers must be protected as they continue their lifesaving work,” Miller also said on X.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that the vehicle was struck in an active combat zone. It stated that the incident was under review and that it had not been made aware of the route of the vehicle.
After Hamas’s October 7 terror attack, Israel initiated a military operation in Gaza. There were 1,200 people killed and 252 people taken hostage by Hamas on October 7. Since then, more than 35,090 individuals, mostly women and children, have been killed in Israel’s military operation in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ignored all calls for a ceasefire.