site.btaBulgaria Urges Israel to Finalize Compensation for Bulgarian UN Worker Killed in Gaza

During Friday’s parliamentary control, Foreign Minister Georg Georgiev said that the Bulgarian side insists that the issue of compensation for the family of Captain Marin Marinov be settled.

Captain Marin Marinov was killed on March 19, 2025. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) admitted to mistakenly firing at a UN facility in central Gaza, killing the UN staffer, according to The Jerusalem Post, The Times of Israel and Haaretz. Bulgaria called for fair compensation from Israel for Marinov's family. 

Georgiev explained Friday that the compensation for the family is subject to clarification between the UN and the Israeli country within the policy of insurance for international employees about the effect of malicious actions.

The Israeli side is in direct contact with the relatives of Captain Marinov, the Minister added.

Georgiev also said that the Foreign Ministry maintains active communication with the Israeli institutions in order to achieve a fair and clear resolution of the case. He noted that on April 24, an IDF spokesperson acknowledged that a shot from an Israeli tank caused the death of Captain Marinov. He also stated that the Israeli defence forces have expressed apologies for the incident and continue to carry out a thorough check to extract operational lessons and to evaluate the taking of additional measures to prevent such events in the future. The IDF spokesperson expressed a deep regret for the loss as well as condolences to the family, said Minister Georgiev. He added that Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar did the same in a telephone conversation with him.

"Everything that the Bulgarian state has done, with the instruments at its disposal, with the official communication channels at all levels in the UN and at the highest level with Israel, the apologies, the fact that there is communication between those interested in the compensation, indicates that we have done our job well. I express deep regret for what happened,” said Minister Georgiev.