Rare death of UN worker as Israel pursues West Bank operation

JERUSALEM: The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said Friday (Sep 13) that one of its employees was killed during an Israeli operation in the occupied West Bank, where raids have escalated since last month.
Israel’s military called the UN worker a “terrorist” who posed a threat to troops.
The United Nations agency, UNRWA, said the employee was the first to be killed in the Palestinian territory in more than a decade.
But he is among dozens of Palestinians killed during the large-scale Israeli operation which began days ago and is ongoing, with several more Palestinians dead since Wednesday.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant announced on September 4 that the military would use its “full strength” to strike Palestinian militants in the West Bank.
He said he had ordered the military to carry out air strikes “wherever necessary” in order to “avoid endangering soldiers”.
Days later, the European Union’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said Israel aimed “to turn the West Bank into a new Gaza”.
Israeli forces this week also carried out operations around the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem.
A military statement on Friday reported four deaths “in the areas of Tulkarem and Nur Shams”.
It said “three of the terrorists were eliminated in an aerial strike on Wednesday,” while the fourth was killed “during close-quarters combat”.