The German News Agency quoted the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs as saying that a French diplomat died from wounds he sustained during an Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip.

The ministry said in a statement yesterday, Saturday, that the official took refuge with two other colleagues and family members at the home of one of his colleagues at the French consulate in Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, near the border with Egypt.

The statement said that the house was subjected to an Israeli bombing last Wednesday, which resulted in the diplomat being injured and about 10 people killed.

The ministry said that the official - who had been "working for France" since 2002 - was later killed, adding that "France condemns the bombing of a residential building that led to the deaths of many other civilians."

It continued, "We call on the Israeli authorities to fully clarify the circumstances of this bombing as soon as possible."

Israel began a war on the Gaza Strip that left more than 18,000 dead - most of them children and women - and tens of thousands wounded, following the Al-Aqsa Flood operation on October 7 last year.

Source: Al Jazeera + German News Agency