DEIR AL-BALAH: An international United Nations staffer was killed and five others were wounded in a strike Wednesday on a U.N. guesthouse in the Gaza Strip, as Israel pressed on with a new offensive in the territory that shattered a fragile ceasefire with Hamas.

Jorge Moreira da Silva, head of the U.N. Office for Project Services, declined to say who carried out the strike in the central city of Deir al-Balah but said the explosive ordnance was “dropped or fired” and the blast was not accidental or related to demining activity.

He did not provide the nationalities of those killed and wounded. The U.N. body, known as UNOPS, carries out infrastructure and development projects around the world.

The Israeli military, which has carried out a heavy wave of airstrikes throughout Gaza since early Tuesday, denied earlier reports that it had targeted the U.N. compound.

But Moreira da Silva said strikes had hit near the compound on Monday and struck it directly on Tuesday and again on Wednesday, when the staffer was killed. He said the agency had contacted the Israeli military after the first strike and confirmed that it was aware of the facility's location.

“Israel knew this was a U.N. premise, that people were living, staying and working there," he said.

After the strike Wednesday, the wounded were rushed to Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Hospital in central city of Deir al-Balah. One man was carried inside on a blanket held up by medical workers. Another lay on a hospital bed, his knee bandaged. A blue protective vest emblazoned with “UN” rested on a nearby bed.

There have been no reports of rocket fire or other Palestinian militant attacks since Israel unleashed the airstrikes overnight and into Tuesday, ending a ceasefire with Hamas that took hold in January. The Israeli bombardment continued into Wednesday, though at a lower intensity.

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