UN to reduce footprint in Gaza after staff killed by Israel

The United Nations has said it will “reduce its footprint” in the Gaza Strip after an Israeli tank strike hit one of its compounds last week, killing one staffer and wounding five others.

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Israel has denied it was behind the March 19 explosion at the UN guesthouse in central Gaza. In a statement on Monday, UN Secretary-General spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said that “based on the information currently available,” the strikes on the site “were caused by an Israeli tank.”

He said the UN “has made taken the difficult decision to reduce the Organization's footprint in Gaza, even as humanitarian needs soar.” He said the UN “is not leaving Gaza” but did not give details on the impact of the decision.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Monday that 730 people had been killed since Israel resumed bombardments on the Palestinian territory on March 18, including 57 in the past 24 hours.

The ministry said in a statement that it recorded “730 deaths and I,367 injuries” since air strikes resumed and 57 deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll since the war started on October 7, 2093, to 50,082.

Germany said on Monday it was extremely worried by the surge in civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip since Israel renewed its full-scale military offensive on the occupied Palestinian territory.