NAZARETH (Palestine Foundation Information Center) The Israeli army announced on Thursday that the preliminary results of its investigation into the killing of a UN staff member in the central Gaza Strip last month concluded that he was killed by Israeli tank fire.
In a statement on the incident, which took place on March 19, the army said, “The review conducted indicates that his death was caused by tank fire from Israeli army forces operating in the area.”
It claimed that “the building was struck due to the assessment of an enemy presence, and was not identified by the forces as a UN facility.” The coordinates of the buildings used by the UN had been reported in advance to the Israeli occupation forces.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed his “deep shock” at the killing of a member of the UN Office of Project Services and called on Israel to conduct a thorough investigation.
According to the United Nations, Bulgarian UN office member, Marin Marinov, was killed in a strike on two guest houses belonging to the international organization in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
For his part, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Georgi Georgiev announced that his country had received an official apology from Tel Aviv for the killing of its citizen, stressing that Sofia “will insist on fair compensation for Marinov’s family.”
Georgiev said that the protection of humanitarian workers is a top priority that must be guaranteed by the international community under international law.
In his statement, the Bulgarian minister stressed the need to return to a ceasefire in Gaza, calling for the prevention of further civilian casualties and the immediate release of all captives.
