The Israeli military said that a vehicle carrying UN staff that was hit in Rafah in southern Gaza was in an “active combat zone” at the time, AFP reports.

The United Nations said that a UN security services member was killed in an attack on a vehicle in Gaza on Monday, marking the first death of a UN international employee in the Palestinian territory since the conflict began more than seven months ago.

Another United Nations Department of Safety and Security (DSS) staff member was wounded in the attack, a spokesman for UN chief Antonio Guterres said, adding that the two had been travelling to the European Hospital in Rafah when their vehicle was hit.

When asked about the attack, the military sent AFP a statement apparently drafted on Monday saying that the DSS had informed it of the hit.

“An initial inquiry conducted indicates that the vehicle was hit in an area declared an active combat zone,” the military said, maintaining that it had “not been made aware of the route of the vehicle”.

“The incident is under review,” it said, without attributing responsibility for the strike.