"These developments further compromise humanitarian access and compound an already dire situation," added Farhan Haq, who also denounced the "indiscriminate" rocket fire by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.

In the same statements, the spokesman reiterated the appeals for the protection of the entire civilian population of the Gaza Strip.

In parallel, the United States Government expressed concern about the attack on a UN vehicle in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, which killed a foreign worker who was part of the United Nations Security and Safety Service (UNDSS). This was the first death of an international UN employee in the Palestinian territory since the beginning of the war on October 7, 2023.

"The United States is deeply concerned by the attack on a United Nations vehicle in Gaza that killed one humanitarian worker and injured another," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said today on social network X.

The UN specified that the vehicle was hit on its way to the European hospital in Rafah.

UN spokesman in Geneva, Rolando Gomez, also said today that António Guterres had "called for a full investigation" into this case.

"We want those responsible to be held accountable. (...). International humanitarian workers are not targets. These attacks must stop," he said.

The ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip was triggered by the attack of the Islamist group Hamas on Israeli soil on October 7, 2023, which caused about 1,200 deaths and two hundred hostages, according to Israeli authorities.

Since then, Israel has launched an offensive in the Gaza Strip that has caused more than 35,000 deaths, according to Hamas, which has governed the small Palestinian enclave since 2007.

The Israeli retaliation is causing a serious humanitarian crisis in Gaza, with more than 1.1 million people in a "catastrophic hunger situation" that is already claiming victims - "the highest number ever recorded" by the UN in food security studies in the world.

Rafah, on the border with Egypt, is the main crossing point for humanitarian aid to Gaza and where more than one million Palestinian displaced persons from other areas of the territory have taken refuge.

Despite international appeals, Israel maintains its military action in Rafah, where it says the last active units of the Palestinian extremist group Hamas are located.

Read Also: UN: Rafah offensive displaces 20% of Gaza's population in one week (Portuguese version)