British bomb disposal expert working for Manchester charity injured in Gaza explosion
A British bomb disposal expert has been injured in an explosion in Gaza during an attack on a UN facility, the charity he works for have said.
Manchester-based Mines Advisory Group (MAG) said the 51-year-old is one of five people injured at the facility in Deir al-Balah on Wednesday morning. A UN worker was killed in the same blast.
The charity said the man, an explosive ordinance disposal (EOD) expert, was rushed to hospital in Gaza in an 'unknown' condition. He now has been taken to a hospital in Israel. They added their thoughts are with 'him, his family, and everyone affected'.
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In a statement, MAG chief executive Darren Cormack said: "A MAG explosive ordinance disposal (EOD) expert on secondment to the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) is one of five people to have been injured in an explosion at a UNOPS facility in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, that also claimed the life of a UN worker.
'Our colleague, who is 51 and British, was conducting an explosive hazards assessment at a Unops building when the incident happened this morning.
'He was transferred to hospital in Gaza for treatment and has now been evacuated to a hospital in Israel. His condition is not known.
'We are in contact with both his family and United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) and doing everything we can to offer our support to them at this time."
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He said MAG has been supporting UNMAS in Gaza since May, adding the injured Brit is 'vastly experienced' and has worked for MAG since 2008.
"The UN has confirmed that today's incident did not occur in the course of normal EOD operations and resulted from ordnance being fired at or dropped on the building in which the team was working," he continued.
"It is shocking that a humanitarian facility should be subject to attacks of this nature and that humanitarian workers are being killed and injured in the line of duty.
"Attacks against humanitarian premises are a breach of international law."
The Israeli military, which has carried out a heavy wave of airstrikes throughout Gaza since early on Tuesday, denied reports that it had targeted the UN compound and said the explosion was not caused by Israeli fire.
Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein wrote on X: "The circumstances of the incident are being investigated.
"We emphasize that the initial examination found no connection to IDF activity whatsoever."
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