Latest news with #UNOfficeforProjectServices
Lebanese Army
04-05-2025
- Politics
- Lebanese Army
Visitors of LAF Commander
Wednesday, 30 April 2025 The Lebanese Armed Forces Commander, General Rodolphe Haykal, received in his office in Yarzeh Member of Parliament William Tawk, and they discussed the general situation in the country. He also received Mohammed Othman Akram, the Director of the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) in Amman, along with an accompanying delegation. Additionally, he received a delegation from the Middle East Institute in Washington, and they discussed various issues.
The National
25-04-2025
- Politics
- The National
IDF admits troops killed UN worker in Gaza Strip with tank fire
Bulgarian UN worker Marin Valev Marinov was killed while five people were injured in the explosion at a UN Office for Project Services (Unops) facility in Deir al-Balah on March 19. The strike came in the day after Israel restarted its offensive in Gaza, breaking a two-month ceasefire. At the time, a spokesperson for Israel's military said it was not responsible for the morning strike. READ MORE: Donald Trump attacks Volodymyr Zelenskyy as Ukraine talks downgraded But. on Thursday the IDF said initial findings of its investigation into the incident indicated its troops had in fact killed the UN worker after wrongly identifying the building as containing an "enemy presence". It said in a statement: "The building was struck due to assessed enemy presence and was not identified by the forces as a UN facility." It comes after an Israeli investigation into the killings of 15 Palestinian medics last month in Gaza by Israeli forces said on Sunday it found a chain of 'professional failures' and a deputy commander has been fired. The shootings outraged many in the international community, with some calling the killings a war crime. Medical workers have special protection under international humanitarian law. The International Red Cross/Red Crescent called it the deadliest attack on its personnel in eight years. Israel at first claimed that the medics' vehicles did not have emergency signals on when troops opened fire but later backtracked. Mobile phone video recovered from one medic contradicted Israel's initial account. Footage shows the ambulances had lights flashing and logos visible as they pulled up to help another ambulance that earlier came under fire. The military investigation found that the deputy battalion commander acted under the incorrect assumption that all of the ambulances belonged to Hamas militants.
Al Arabiya
25-03-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
UN blames ‘Israeli tank' for deadly strike on its buildings in Gaza
The United Nations said Monday a strike on its buildings in Gaza last week that killed one employee and injured several others was caused 'by an Israeli tank,' a claim disputed by the country's government. 'Based on the information currently available, the strikes hitting a UN compound in Deir Al Balah on 19 March were caused by an Israeli tank,' said the secretary-general's spokesman Stephane Dujarric. The strike, which killed a Bulgarian employee of the UN Office for Project Services and severely injured six others, according to Dujarric, came as Israel renewed its intense bombardment of the Palestinian territory, carrying out the deadliest wave of attacks since a January truce in its war against militant group Hamas. 'The location of this UN compound was well known to the parties to the conflict,' Dujarric said. Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein said in a statement on X that Israel launched an investigation into the UN worker's death, but 'the initial examination found no connection... whatsoever' to Israeli military activity. Given the renewed violence, Dujarric said the UN 'has taken the difficult decision' to temporarily reduce its international staff within the Palestinian territory. But 'the UN is not leaving Gaza,' Dujarric stressed, adding that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres 'renews his urgent call for the restoration of the ceasefire to bring an end to the anguish.'
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
British charity worker injured in strike on UN facility in Gaza
A British charity worker has been injured in a fatal strike on a UN facility in the Gaza Strip, the demining charity he works for has said. The 51-year-old was among the five people injured in an explosion at a UN Office for Project Services (Unops) facility in Deir al-Balah that also killed a UN worker, Darren Cormack, the chief executive of the Mines Advisory Group (Mag) said in a statement. It comes as Sir Keir Starmer called for 'restraint' during a telephone conversation with Saudi Arabia on Wednesday evening amid a renewed series of Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. However, a spokesperson for Israel's military said it was not responsible for the Wednesday morning strike that left the British citizen injured. Mr Cormack said: '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. The 51-year-old was seconded to the UN Mine Action Service at the time of the strike, Mr Cormack said, adding: 'The UN has confirmed that today's incident did not occur in the course of normal explosive ordnance disposal operations and resulted from ordnance being fired at or dropped on the building in which the team was working. '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.' Jorge Moreira da Silva, head of Unops, declined to say who he thought had carried out the strike, but said the blast was not accidental or related to demining activity. 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. I am horrified by the death and critical injuries of @UN @UNOPS colleagues when their compound was struck in Gaza today. I condemn all attacks against UN personnel and call for a full investigation. — António Guterres (@antonioguterres) March 19, 2025 Mr Moreira da Silva said strikes had hit near the compound on Monday before direct strikes on Tuesday and again on Wednesday, when the UN team member was killed and their British colleague injured. He said the agency had contacted the Israeli military after the first strike and confirmed that it was aware of the facility's location. Sir Keir spoke to Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Wednesday night and called for the ceasefire in Gaza to be reinstated. A Downing Street spokesperson added: 'The Prime Minister underscored that he is deeply concerned by the return to fighting and urged for Israeli restraint. 'The Prime Minister underlined the need for all parties to urgently come back to the table, so that a ceasefire could be reinstated to see all hostages released and an increase of aid into Gaza. 'Securing a two-state solution that will guarantee security and stability for Israel, alongside a sovereign and viable Palestine state was the only way forward, he added. 'The leaders looked forward to speaking soon.' The Gaza Health Ministry said at least 436 people, including 183 children and 94 women, have been killed since Israel launched its new offensive on Tuesday, with 678 wounded. The Israeli military says it only strikes militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas because it operates in densely populated areas. Nearly 49,000 Palestinians have died in the conflict, according to local health officials, and 90% of the population in the Gaza Strip has been displaced. The war erupted when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages. While most of the hostages have been released, 59 remain although more than half of those are believed to be dead.
Arab News
13-03-2025
- Business
- Arab News
Spain court remands ex-UN official wanted by US for fraud
MADRID: A Spanish court has ordered a former top UN official wanted on suspicion of fraud which cost the agency millions of dollars to be remanded in custody, according to a ruling made public Thursday. An internal UN court ruled last year that Vitaly Vanshelboim, a Ukrainian, secretly collected $3 million in gifts, including a new Mercedes, from a British businessman while he invested more than $58 million of the body's money in the man's companies. At the time he was the deputy head of the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS), a little-known agency that acts as a kind of general contractor for other arms of the organization. Vanshelboim was put on leave in 2021 while the UN investigated the allegations and was sacked in early 2023. He moved to Spain three years ago. A New York court in January issued an international arrest warrant for Vanshelboim for alleged bribery, money laundering and electronic fraud. Spain's top criminal court on Wednesday ordered he be remanded in custody because he poses a flight risk, according to a ruling made public on Thursday. While Vanshelboim has family and economic ties in Spain, 'such ties cannot be considered sufficiently strong to counter the aforementioned risk, given that he has only been living here for three years,' the court said. The UN has said it lost the bulk of the more than $58 million in UNOPS funds which Vanshelboim entrusted to the British businessman. The scandal led to an overhaul of the agency and embarrassed the UN.
