U-N Secretary-General Kofi Annan says he is "greatly disturbed" by the circumstances surrounding the death of a U-N official working in a Palestinian refugee camp today (Friday).
The U-N agency for Palestinian refugees says Israeli forces initially blocked an ambulance sent to treat Ian Hook, the official shot during a gunbattle between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian gunmen.
Mr. Hook, a British national, oversaw a U-N project to rebuild the Jenin refugee camp. The camp was devastated during a Israeli military incursion in April, as Israeli forces hunted down Palestinian militants.
In his statement, read by a spokesman, Mr. Annan acknowledged that complete details of today's incident have yet to established.
The gunbattle took place after Israeli forces entered the camp to search for a leader of the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad.
It remains unclear which side fired the fatal shots. The head of Jenin hospital says the bullets retrieved from the victim's abdomen are the kind generally used by Israeli troops. The Israeli military says the incident is under investigation.
Witnesses say that in a separate incident in the camp, Israeli troops shot and killed a Palestinian boy.
Today's violence in Jenin occurred as Israeli forces stepped up operations in the West Bank after a suicide attack in Jerusalem Thursday that killed 12 people, including the bomber.