Farhan Haq, a spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, says a UN staff member has been killed when “their vehicle was struck as they travelled to the European Hospital in Rafah this morning”.

“We are deeply saddened to learn of the death of a United Nations Department of Safety and Security staff member and an injury to another DSS staff member,” Haq said. “The secretary-general condemns all attacks on UN personnel and calls for a full investigation,” he added.

We reported earlier, quoting local sources, that a UN vehicle was hit by Israeli shelling in Rafah, injuring at least one of the vehicle’s occupants.


_{A UN vehicle that came under fire by Israeli forces in Rafah, killing a UN staffer, May 13}

The UN has confirmed its first international staff casualty in Gaza after a UN vehicle was hit in Rafah.

Farhan Haq, a spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said during a news conference that the total number of UN staff killed in Gaza since October 7 has reached 190.

The Government Media Office in Gaza has condemned the Israeli army for killing a foreign UN employee and injuring another staffer in Rafah while they were riding in a United Nations vehicle.

“They were targeted while they were riding in a United Nations vehicle bearing the United Nations flag and United Nations insignia”, a statement from the office says.

The statement shared on Telegram demanded “an end to the war of genocide” and blamed the US administration for Israel’s “war crimes”.

A spokesperson for the secretary-general confirmed that there were two individuals in Rafah in a UN-marked vehicle on their way to the European Hospital there as part of their duties.

The UN said they work for the Department of Safety and Security and that they came under fire, and one of them was killed, and that person is an international staff member of the UN. The UN is not confirming what country the individual is from as it is still waiting to inform family members.

The second individual was injured; we’re told their injuries are minor and that they expect to have a full recovery.

The expanding Israeli ground offensive in Rafah in southern Gaza has pushed many thousands of Palestinians to nearby Khan Younis, large parts of which have been destroyed by countless air strikes and a ground assault.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has signalled there will be no stopping the Israeli military’s latest incursions into the Gaza Strip during a state ceremony for remembering “victims of terrorism” on October 7.

“We do not forget the hostages, not for one second,” he said, promising to return all still held in Gaza, alive or dead.

But Netanyahu said the pounding of the besieged enclave will continue, as “the murders and their supporters” are now “suffering our wrath across the Gaza Strip”.

“We will not stop until we bring about the collapse of the Hamas terror regime. We will exact revenge from those who perpetrated the attack, till the very last one of them. We will sever their arms so that they can no longer raise them against Israel.”

The government of Maldives has said it will formally join the lawsuit filed by South Africa against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which accuses Israel of violating its obligations under the Genocide Convention in the Gaza Strip.

In a statement by the president’s office, the government of Maldives said the move comes due to “genocidal acts perpetrated by Israeli occupying forces under the guise of security concerns [which] have resulted in mass displacement, acute starvation, and blockage of humanitarian aid”.

The government also said that demands made by Israel for the immediate evacuation of thousands of Palestinian civilians seeking refuge in eastern Rafah “are a testament to its failure to adhere to the provisional measures ordered by the ICJ”.

Defence intelligence officer resigns in protest of US policy on Gaza war

‘We need to see an end to indiscriminate killing of children’: UNICEF

“I saw the impact of this fighting on children’s bodies, and it is horrific.” - UNICEF’s Tess Ingram on her visit to Gaza.

Watch the interview.

— UNICEF (@UNICEF) May 13, 2024

The board of the ice cream brand owned by Unilever has said that the pro-Palestine protests sweeping US college campuses and graduation ceremonies are “essential” to democracy.

The Vermont-based frozen dairy dessert maker, sold on some college campuses, called for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza in January.

“Lunch counter sit-ins, student-led protests against the Vietnam War and Apartheid South Africa, and now the campus protests in solidarity with Gaza, all are part of our rich history of free speech and non-violent protest that makes change and is essential to a strong democracy,” the independent board said in a statement.

Three years ago, Ben and Jerry’s announced it would stop selling its ice cream in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, saying it was “inconsistent” with its values, and leading parent company Unilever to look for a “new arrangement” for selling the ice cream in Israel.

Unilever then offloaded its Israeli Ben and Jerry’s business to a local licensee, keeping the ice cream for sale in the country.

University of Manchester sprayed with red paint in protest to Gaza war

Hezbollah Secretary-General Hasan Nasrallah says residents of northern Israel would not be able to return home for the start of the next school year if their government presses on with its war on the Gaza Strip.

Hezbollah has been exchanging fire with the Israeli military across Lebanon’s southern border in parallel with the war on the besieged coastal enclave. The group said it is launching rockets at Israel both to support Hamas and to deter Israel from launching an attack on Lebanon.

In a televised address on Monday, Nasrallah repeated that Hezbollah would keep fighting as long as Israel continued its assault on Gaza. “The link between the supportive Lebanese front and Gaza is definitive, final and conclusive,” he said. “No one will be able to delink them.”

Israel said it wants to secure the north for residents to return home either through a mediated diplomatic agreement or a military attack against Lebanon. Families displaced from northern Israel had been hoping to return home by September 1 for the start of the academic year.

Israeli military says it hits Hezbollah launchers ready for attack

NGO Human Rights Watch said on X that the killing of a foreign UN staff member in Rafah earlier today is proof that “there is nowhere safe to go in Gaza”.

The organisation pointed out that the vehicle carrying the staff member who was killed – and another who was wounded – was on its way to a hospital when it was struck and heavily damaged by Israeli fire.

Jagan Chapagain, the head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, says on X that “humanitarians and civilians must be protected” in Gaza.

“On behalf of the IFRC, I send my deepest condolences to those who lost their loved one and wish full recovery to the injured”.

His words come after Israeli fire on a clearly marked UN vehicle killed one foreign staff member and wounded another in Rafah earlier today.

According to HaMoked, an Israeli rights group, a group of young Israelis set fire to the perimeter of the East Jerusalem headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

This is the second incident of arson targeting UNRWA in a week. On May 9, the UNRWA compound was targeted while staff were inside.

“While there were no casualties among our staff, the fire caused extensive damage to the outdoor areas. The UNRWA headquarters has on its grounds a petrol and diesel station for the agency’s fleet of cars,” said UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini at the time.

“This is an outrageous development. Once again, the lives of UN staff were at a serious risk,” he said.

Pro-Palestinian protests are rippling across European universities with the University of Geneva seeing demonstrations starting last week.

Students have called on the University of Geneva to divest from Israel.

Students protesting the war on Gaza and calling for divestment from Israel on campuses in the City University of New York (CUNY) system have been threatened with “emergency suspension” if they fail to break up their demonstrations.

The Palestinian solidarity encampment at City College of New York, part of CUNY, released a letter from the division of student affairs, which claimed demonstrators are in violation of rules and that they must disband within minutes.

This comes after a police raid at the start of May led to hundreds of arrests at CUNY.

Tamara Rasamny, a master’s student at Columbia University’s Climate School, delivered the remarks during her school’s class day last week.

In April, Rasamny was arrested by New York City police and suspended by the university for her participation in the Gaza solidarity protests on campus.

Columbia University administration and police have been heavily criticised for their harsh response to the non-violent protests, which, after beginning at Columbia have since spread to campuses across the US and the globe.

“Demonstrating students are demanding their institutions divest from all investments made in Israel and businesses linked to it, as well as financial transparency.

“As students, we have historically been moral compasses of our world. … And now students [are] demanding that their education doesn’t come at the cost of Palestinian lives or any human life”, she said in her speech.

The University of Amsterdam says it will remain closed for two days after police were called in to crack down on pro-Palestinian protests at one of the school’s campuses earlier on Monday.

The university’s board said it had cancelled all classes through Wednesday, and all buildings will remain closed as it said it cannot guarantee safety for those on campus.

Demonstrators demanding divestment from Israel and opposing the war on Gaza have clashed several times with riot police in the past week at the university. But the board says the demonstrations had turned violent.

The growing protest efforts against Israel’s war on Gaza have now spawned a cyberspace movement that has erupted in the past few days, targeting celebrities who are seen as being insensitive towards, or even supportive of, the death and destruction in the Palestinian enclave.

The campaign that took off after the Met Gala on May 6 has earned the names: Blockout 2024, celebrity block list and digitine. The idea is to block famous celebrities on social media networks such as Instagram, X and TikTok.

But what’s it all about, why are parallels to the French Revolution coming up, does blocking a celebrity hurt them, and is the campaign seeing any impact?

The armed wing of Hamas says intense fighting with Israeli ground forces is ongoing in northern Gaza.

The Qassam Brigades said its fighters managed to drop a Yassin-105 anti-tank shell on an Israeli Merkava tank east of the Jabalia refugee camp using a drone.

The group claimed attacks on four tanks in the same area.

Palestinian paramedic shocked after seeing grandchild among killed