Major General Charlie Herbert, a former British military officer and expert on urban warfare, told the Telegraph: “The clearly high proportion of UNRWA personnel killed by the IDF in the first months of the war warrants further investigation. There is,” he said.
He said consideration should be given to the “distinction, proportionality and target selection of Israeli air operations.”
However, he added, “It would be too speculative to draw any conclusions from the data or infer that UNRWA was intentionally targeted.”
UNRWA officials provided their own explanations for the high casualty rate of the agency’s personnel in the conflict.
All Gaza citizens, including UNRWA personnel, have an ID number, which is stored in a database that is accessible to both Palestinian and Israeli authorities. This ID code is also linked to a person’s residence.
“Israel knows where everyone in the Gaza Strip lives and their names,” the UNRWA official said. Before an attack on the building by the Israel Defense Forces was planned, “there would have been an understanding that UN personnel were living on the premises and could be at risk.”
In previous conflicts in Gaza, the roofs of buildings where local UNRWA personnel lived were sometimes “pounded” with inert shells and bombs to warn of attacks on the area.
In the current war, warnings continue to be given to foreign employees living on the premises, but not to local employees at home.
This policy change likely explains why the vast majority of UNRWA personnel die while “off duty.”
“The faucet on the roof does not currently exist,” a UNRWA official said. “It was an impactful blow from the beginning.”
An IDF spokesperson said: “The IDF has never and will never intentionally target UN personnel or other innocent civilians. take action [among] Civilian.
“Israel Defense Force attacks against military targets are subject to the relevant provisions of international law.”
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