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The UN says that one of its workers has been killed and others injured after a compound in Gaza was damaged on Wednesday, adding that the circumstances of the incident remain unclear.<\/p>\n
The Palestinian territory’s Hamas-run health ministry blamed an Israeli strike and said five critically injured foreign workers had arrived in hospital. Israel’s military denied striking the UN compound in Deir al-Balah.<\/p>\n
It comes after Israel said it was resuming fighting in Gaza following a two-month ceasefire – launching a wave of strikes that killed more than 400 people, according to Gaza’s health ministry.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it had “resumed combat in full force”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
A day later, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was extending ground operations in Gaza up to the Netzarim corridor, which divides the north and south of the strip.<\/p>\n
Troops moved into the area “to create a partial buffer between northern and southern Gaza”, the military added.<\/p>\n
The UN initially said two of its workers had been killed but later clarified that the second person was not a staff member.<\/p>\n
The UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) said an “explosive ordnance was dropped or fired” at the building, which was in an “isolated” location.<\/p>\n
It added there was no confirmation on the nature of the incident or the type of artillery used.<\/p>\n
UNOPS executive director Jorge Moreira da Silva described the incident as “not an accident” and added that “UN personnel and its premises must be protected by all sides”.<\/p>\n
In a statement, a spokesperson for UN Secretary General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres said two guesthouses were hit and called for a full investigation.<\/p>\n
Footage verified by the BBC showed injured people – two still wearing blue UN flak jackets – arriving at a hospital in an ambulance and a UN car.<\/p>\n
Separately, at least 20 people were killed in air strikes across Gaza overnight, after Israel said it was resuming fighting in the Palestinian territory.<\/p>\n
Two civilians were killed and five others injured when an Israeli drone hit a tent near the al-Mawasi humanitarian zone, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reports, citing Red Crescent medics.<\/p>\n
Israel’s army said it had targeted what it called a Hamas military site, from where the group was preparing to fire into Israel. Vessels controlled by Hamas were also hit, the army said. <\/p>\n
The bombing is not of the same scale as it was on Tuesday – but it shows no let-up in Israel’s fresh assault. <\/p>\n
Tom Fletcher, the UN’s under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief, said of Tuesday’s strikes that “the intensity of the killings is now off the scale”.<\/p>\n
Wafa says a woman and child were killed in an air strike north of Khan Younis overnight into Wednesday, while four others were killed in a strike in Gaza City.<\/p>\n
Gaza’s health ministry said that 436 people had been killed in strikes since Tuesday, including 183 children.<\/p>\n
Tuesday’s strikes constituted the heaviest bombardment since a fragile ceasefire and hostage exchange deal came into effect on 19 January, and came after Israel and Hamas failed to agree how to take it beyond an initial phase.<\/p>\n
The deal involves three stages, and negotiations on the second stage were meant to have started six weeks ago – but this did not happen.<\/p>\n
Under the proposed second phase, Israel would withdraw troops from Gaza – but Israel and the US instead pushed for an extension of the first phase, with more hostages being released in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners. <\/p>\n
Netanyahu cast the resumption of fighting as a return to Israel’s primary aims – to return the hostages and “get rid” of Hamas – but families of hostages have criticised the decision, saying it showed the government had given up on their loved ones.<\/p>\n
Thousands of Israelis have joined a protest in Jerusalem, accusing Netanyahu of undermining democracy and restarting the offensive in Gaza without regard for the hostages.<\/p>\n
Israel says Hamas is still holding 59 hostages, 24 of whom are believed to be alive.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Egypt, a mediator in talks, said the fresh strikes were a “blatant” violation of the ceasefire.<\/p>\n
Israel previously imposed a total halt on all humanitarian aid entering Gaza, causing widespread international alarm.<\/p>\n
“For two weeks now, our food supplies are rotting at the borders, the medicines are expiring, the water’s been cut off, the power’s been cut off – and all that to punish civilians further,” Mr Fletcher told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.<\/p>\n
He said he had spoken to the UN security council on Tuesday in a bid to lift the blockade and get the ceasefire deal back on track, including the release of hostages.<\/p>\n
“I’m not asking for the moon here,” the UN chief added.<\/p>\n
He said his team would “carry on going” in Gaza because they are “determined to do everything they can to save as many survivors as possible.<\/p>\n
“They’re saying to us: What does it say about our values that we can’t stop a 21st Century atrocity happening before our eyes – and not just happening, but being cheered on before our eyes?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Hamas has confirmed that several of its leaders were killed in Tuesday’s strikes, including its de facto head of government, Essam a-Da’lees. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Islamic Jihad – whose fighters participated in the 7 October 2023 attack which triggered the current conflict – said the prominent spokesman of its armed wing, known as Abu Hamza, was killed. <\/p>\n
However, there were also many civilians, including dozens of children, thought to be among the dead. <\/p>\n
Regional mediators are now said to be pushing Hamas to release some of the Israeli hostages it still holds in exchange for a de-escalation. <\/p>\n
But Netanyahu has said that going forward, all ceasefire talks will take place “under fire”.<\/p>\n
The 7 October 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel saw about 1,200 people killed and the capturing of 251 hostages – 25 of whom were released alive during the first phase of the ceasefire.<\/p>\n
Israel responded with a massive military offensive, which has killed more than 48,500 Palestinians, the Hamas-run health ministry says, as well as causing large-scale destruction to homes and infrastructure.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n