April 25 (UPI) — After initially denying responsibility for last month’s death of a United Nations staff worker in central Gaza, Israel’s military has acknowledged that it killed Marin Valev Marinov when it attacked a U.N. guesthouse.
Marinov, a 51-year-old Bulgarian national and member of the U.N. office for Project Services, was killed and nine others, including six U.N. workers, were wounded when the Israel Defense Forces attacked two U.N. guesthouses in Deir al Balah on March 19, a day after Israel resumed fighting in Gaza following a 42-day cease-fire.
On Thursday, the IDF said in a statement to Telegram that initial findings from the investigation into the attack show that “the fatality was caused by tank fire from IDF troops operating in the area.”
“The building was struck due to assessed enemy presence and was not identified by the forces as a U.N. facility,” it said.
“The IDF regrets this serious incident and continues to conduct thorough review processes to draw operational lessons and evaluate additional measures to prevent such events in the future,” it added.
“We express our deep sorrow for the loss and send our condolences to the family.”
Jorge Moreira da Silva, the executive director of UNOPS, which has been providing infrastructure, procurement and project management services to Gaza amid the war, said Thursday in a statement that they “acknowledge” the IDF’S findings, saying they are “consistent with known facts to the U.N.”
Da Silva also reiterated the U.N.’s refutation of the IDF claim that the buildings attacked were not identified as U.N. facilities, saying “the location of these premises were well known by all parties.
“U.N. workers should never be targeted,” he said. “Attacks against humanitarian premises are a breach of international law, and U.N. personnel and its premises must be protected by all sides.”
Stephan Dujarric, the U.N. spokesman for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, similarly told reporters Thursday that Israel has communicated the findings of its investigation, though they are calling on the IDF for accountability, not just for this incident but for each incident where a U.N. worker has been killed in Gaza and where U.N. infrastructure has come under attack.
In the days following the attack that killed Marinov, Guterres said that based on available information, it was caused by an Israeli tank and the location struck was a U.N. compound “well-known to the parities to the conflict.”
Israel initially denied responsibility for the attack. In response to Guterres’ comments, Oren Marmorstein, spokesman for Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said: “the initial examination found no connection to IDF activity whatsoever” chastised the U.N. director-general’s comments as “baseless slander against Israel.”
“No standards, no professionalism, — nothing stands in the way of the U.N. Secretary-General in another attempt to smear Israel,” he said on X at the time.
The Thursday announcement comes days after the IDF admitted Sunday that it had wrongly killed a U.N. worker and 14 others when its forces opened fire on them.
According to Guterres, at least 280 U.N. workers have been killed since the Israel-Hamas war started on Oct. 7, 2023.
