site.btaBulgarian UN Staffer Marinov Killed Accidentally by Israeli Tank Shell, Israel Defense Forces Admit as Quoted by Local Media

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have admitted to mistakenly firing on a UN facility in central Gaza last month, killing an UN staffer, the local The Jerusalem Post, The Times of Israel and Haaretz media reported Thursday.

Until now, the IDF denied responsibility for the March 19 strike in Deir al-Balah that killed Bulgarian UN staffer Marin Marinov and wounded five others.

The article in The Jerusalem Post reads that the IDF announced "tank fire mistakenly killed the UN official and wounded the five others on March 19 in central Gaza. According to the IDF, the IDF tank and soldiers in the area on March 19 identified a suspected enemy element in the facility and fired on the structure to kill the suspected enemy. It was unclear from the IDF what the suspicious signs were or whether, in fact, there were enemy fighters in the structure."

AFP cited a statement by the IDF on the results of an internal investigation. The statement reads that according to the information gathered so far, Marinov's death was caused by a tank shell fired by troops operating in the area. The IDF expresses regret over the incident. The building was struck due to an alleged enemy presence and was not identified by the forces as a UN target, the statement also reads.

On March 19, the United Nations said a foreign staffer was killed and five other workers were wounded in an Israeli airstrike on the site of an UN headquarters in central Gaza City. The Israeli military denied it had struck the UN compound in Deir al-Balah, Reuters reported. The Washington Post quoted the IDF as saying that it did not strike the compound; the aid workers were injured during the process of clearing landmines, not in an airstrike.

Also on March 19, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar assured his Bulgarian counterpart, Georg Georgiev, by phone that the tragic incident was in no way connected to Israel Defense Forces' actions by land, air, or sea, and the investigation remains ongoing.

On March 24, UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said that based on currently available information, "the strikes hitting a UN compound in Deir al-Balah on March 19 were caused by an Israeli tank". The location of the compound was well known to all the parties to the conflict, she underscored.

Reacting to the UN statement, Israeli Ambassador in Sofia Yosi Levi wrote on Facebook: "As Israel informed previously, the initial examination found no connection to IDF activity whatsoever. It is important to note that the UN inquiry team itself HASN'T EVEN ARRIVED AT THE SCENE. Yet the UN Secretary-General, that till yesterday hasn't attributed any responsibility to Israel, is quick to publish another baseless slander against Israel. No standards, no professionalism — nothing stands in the way of the UN Secretary-General in another attempt to smear Israel," the Ambassador wrote.

On April 9, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Georgiev said that Bulgaria will insist that the guilty party take responsibility, apologize, compensate the family and prevent similar incidents in the future, given the fact that Bulgarian humanitarian workers are still in Gaza.