By Michelle Nichols
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A convoy of clearly marked armored U.N. vehicles in Gaza was encircled and held at gunpoint on Monday by Israeli forces seeking to question two of the U.N. staff, the United Nations said on Tuesday.
The convoy, on its way to help with a campaign to vaccinate thousands of Palestinian children against polio, was stopped at a checkpoint connecting central and northern Gaza, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Tuesday, because Israeli soldiers wanted to question two Palestinian staff members.
The situation escalated quickly, he said, and soldiers pointed their weapons directly at the U.N. staff in the convoy.
As the polio vaccination campaign began in northern Gaza on Tuesday, Dujarric said the incident on Monday was the latest example of "the unacceptable dangers and impediments that humanitarian personnel in Gaza are experiencing."
He said the U.N. convoy had been quickly "encircled by Israeli forces, and shots were fired."
"The convoy was then approached by IDF tanks and bulldozers, which proceeded to ram the U.N. vehicles from the back and front, compacting the convoy with U.N. staff still inside," Dujarric said.
"One bulldozer dropped debris on the first vehicle, while Israeli soldiers threatened staff, making it impossible for them to safely exit their vehicles," he said.
When asked to respond to the U.N. account on Tuesday, the Israeli military said the convoy was stopped after the military received intelligence indicating a number of "Palestinian suspects" were aboard that it wanted to question.
"We emphasize that the convoy was for a U.N. personnel rotation, and not a convoy transporting polio vaccines. Israeli Security Forces questioned the suspects in the field and then released them. The convoy returned to the southern Gaza Strip," it said.
Dujarric said Israeli soldiers questioned the two staff members, but the U.N. made sure it was done in front of the convoy vehicles and other U.N. personnel.
"After seven-and-a-half hours at the checkpoint, the convoy returned to base," he said. "This incident – and the conduct of Israeli forces on the ground – put the lives of our staff in danger."
The incident came two weeks after the U.N. World Food Programme temporarily suspended movement of its employees in Gaza, saying at least 10 bullets struck one of its clearly marked vehicles as it approached an Israeli military checkpoint.
Israel told the U.S. that an initial review found that shots were fired at the WFP after a "communication error" between Israeli military units, the deputy U.S. envoy to the U.N. told the Security Council two days after the incident.
WFP resumed employee movements after receiving assurances from Israel that they would provide an investigation report on the incident and review the military's coordination with the U.N. and aid groups, a senior WFP official said on Tuesday.
"That review is ongoing," Corinne Fleischer, WFP's regional director for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe, told reporters on Tuesday, but she added that WFP was yet to receive an investigation report on the shooting.