The United Nations on Tuesday said it had informed Israeli authorities about the movement of its convoy which was struck by Israel en route to Rafah on Monday, killing a retired Indian Army officer working with the multilateral organisation and injuring another person.

AFP quoted United Nations’ Geneva-based spokesman Ronaldo Gomez as saying: “The UN informs Israeli authorities of the movement of all of our convoys. That has been the case in any theatre of operation. This is a standard operating procedure. This was the case yesterday (Monday) morning, so we have informed them. And it was a clearly marked UN vehicle. This is a sheer illustration that there’s really nowhere safe in Gaza at the moment.”

The AFP report further quoted the Israeli military as stating that an initial enquiry indicated that the vehicle was hit in an area declared an active combat zone and that Israel had not been made aware of the route of the vehicle.

The Indian killed in the attack has been identified as Colonel Waibhav Anil Kale (retired) who was working as a security coordination officer in the United Nations Department of Safety and Security in Gaza.