The United Nations has announced it will reduce the size of its international team in Gaza following renewed attacks by Israeli forces, which have claimed the lives of hundreds of civilians, including UN personnel.
According to Aljezeera reports, the UN spokesperson Stephan Dujarric confirmed in a Monday news briefing that about 30 out of roughly 100 international staff members would leave Gaza this week, acknowledging that the move comes amid growing humanitarian needs and increasing concern for the safety of civilians.
He described the withdrawal as a “difficult decision,” taken by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for security and operational reasons.
Dujarric also confirmed that an Israeli tank was responsible for the March 19 attack on a UN compound in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, which killed a Bulgarian UN staff member and severely injured six other foreign workers.
This marks the first time the UN has directly implicated Israeli forces in the attack on the clearly marked UN site, after Israel’s military had repeatedly denied responsibility for the strike.
The attack occurred one day after Israel broke its ceasefire agreement with Hamas, which had lasted for two months.
Al Jazeera’s Gabriel Elizondo, reporting from the UN headquarters in New York, clarified that the staff reduction only applies to international personnel.
The UN still has thousands of Palestinian staff in Gaza, many of whom have been killed since the start of Israel’s war on the territory.
“The UN has over 13,000 employees in Gaza, the vast majority of them are Palestinians who work as doctors, nurses, drivers and perform other very important humanitarian jobs in Gaza,” Elizondo explained.
“Over 250 have been killed in the past 15 months or so, but now, the secretary-general is saying that the situation is so dangerous that of the 100 international staff in Gaza employed by the UN, he’s going to reduce that staffing by about one-third, or about 30 of those international staff, who are going to leave Gaza for their own safety.”
Dujarric further emphasized that Secretary-General Guterres has called for “a full, thorough and independent investigation” into the March 19 tank attack on the UN compound.
Israel had claimed that the attack targeted a Hamas site preparing to fire into Israeli territory.
When asked if the UN believed the Israeli tank attack was a deliberate strike on the UN facility, Dujarric responded, “I think that’s one of the reasons we need to have a pretty clear and transparent investigation.”
On March 24, 2025, the Israeli military admitted to firing on a building in Rafah, southern Gaza, that belonged to the Red Cross. The military claimed the strike was a case of mistaken identity.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reported that its office in Rafah was damaged by an explosive projectile, although no staff members were injured. The ICRC stated that the damage has affected its ability to operate but did not specify who was responsible for the explosion.
