Canada condemns strike on aid workers in Gaza
OTTAWA — Canada condemned an Israeli airstrike that killed seven aid workers in the Gaza Strip on Monday and is demanding a full investigation.
The World Central Kitchen said a dual Canadian-American citizen, as well as three British nationals, an Australian, a Polish national and a Palestinian were delivering food that had arrived by sea when they were struck Monday evening.
The charity suspended operations in the region following the attack. World Central Kitchen was founded by celebrity chef Jose Andres and operates in several countries wracked by wars or natural disasters.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged that the Israel Defense Forces carried out the “unintended strike,” which killed “innocent people.”
He said officials are investigating and “will do everything for this not to happen again.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the attack on aid workers is “absolutely unacceptable.”
“This is something that never should have happened, and we are heartbroken for the families and for the organization that has been putting people in harm’s way to counter the extraordinarily devastating humanitarian crisis going on in Gaza right now,” he said.
“We obviously need full accountability and investigation in this.”
Trudeau said there needs to be “clarity” about how it happened and repeated a call for a ceasefire “so more aid workers are not in danger as they try to respond to the suffering on the ground in Gaza.”
Earlier in a statement posted to X, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said she was “horrified.”
“We condemn these strikes and call for a full investigation,” she posted. “Canada expects full accountability for these killings and we will convey this to the Israeli government directly.”
World Central Kitchen’s work was key to a recently opened sea route that offered some hope for northern Gaza.
The United Nations says much of the area’s population is on the brink of starvation, largely cut off from the rest of the territory by Israeli forces.
Andres said he is “heartbroken” by the deaths of his colleagues.
“The Israeli government needs to stop this indiscriminate killing. It needs to stop restricting humanitarian aid, stop killing civilians and aid workers, and stop using food as a weapon,” he wrote on X.
Cyprus, which has played a key role in trying to establish the sea route to bring food to the territory, said ships that recently arrived were turning back with some 240 tons of undelivered aid.
Footage of the airstrike showed the workers’ bodies, several wearing protective gear with the charity’s logo, at a hospital in the Gaza town of Deir al-Balah.
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs in Canada also called for accountability.
“Yesterday’s inadvertent Israeli airstrike on a civilian aid convoy in Gaza killing a Canadian citizen is deeply regrettable,” the organization said in a statement.
“The Israeli government must carry out a thorough investigation and hold those who made the error accountable. Humanitarian aid into Gaza is essential, as are Israel’s efforts to destroy Hamas military capabilities.”
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran on Tuesday vowed to respond to a deadly airstrike widely attributed to Israel that demolished Iran’s consulate building in the Syrian capital of Damascus and killed eight people, including two Iranian generals.
The Lebanese militant Hezbollah group – a key ally of both Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government and Iran – also pledged “punishment and revenge” on Israel. Israel, which has repeatedly targeted Iranian officers on sites in Syria and in Lebanon, did not confirm the attack.
Iran provides money and weapons to Hezbollah, as well as Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups fighting Israel in Gaza. Clashes between Israel and Hezbollah along the Israeli-Lebanese border have increased since the war in Gaza began nearly six months ago.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, a key decision-making body, met late on Monday and decided on a “required” response to the strike, Iran’s state television reported. It said the meeting was chaired by President Ebrahim Raisi but provided no further details.
“We will make them regretful about the crime and similar acts,” said Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has final say on all matters of state in Iran.
The U.S. National Security Council said the United States played no role in the strike in Damascus and did not know of it ahead of time. Americans directly advised Iran of that, a U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter.
It was not clear if and when Iran would respond but any retaliation from Tehran would risk a dangerous confrontation with Israel and its ally, the U.S.
The airstrike killed Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, who led the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force in Lebanon and Syria until 2016, his deputy, Gen Mohammad Hadi Hajriahimi, and five other officers. A member of Hezbollah, Hussein Youssef, also was killed in the attack.
Hezbollah announced Youssef’s death on Tuesday, but did not provide further details. The group also said Zahedi played a crucial role in helping “develop and advance the work” of the group in Lebanon.
“This crime will certainly not pass without the enemy receiving punishment and revenge,” the Hezbollah statement said.
Syrian Prime Minister Hussein Arnous, after visiting the Iranian Embassy in Damascus, said rescue workers are still searching for bodies under the rubble of the consulate building.
Since the Oct. 7 outbreak of the Gaza war, Iran’s proxies have stepped up attacks, with near-daily cross-border exchanges between Hezbollah and Israel, and frequent attacks on Red Sea shipping by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
Israel, which rarely acknowledges strikes against Iranian targets, said it had no comment on the latest attack in Syria, although a military spokesman blamed Iran for a drone attack early Monday against a naval base in southern Israel.
Israel, increasingly impatient with the exchanges with Hezbollah, has warned of the possibility of a full-fledged war. The Houthis have also been launching longrange missiles toward Israel.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the country is in a war on multiple fronts “both offensively and defensively.”
“We see evidence of this every day, including over the last few days,” said Gallant, speaking to the Israeli parliament’s Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee. “We operate everywhere, every day, in order to prevent our enemies from gaining strength and in order to make it clear to anyone who acts against us – all over the Middle East – that the price for action against Israel will be a heavy one.”
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the strike on the Iranian Consulate and reaffirmed on Tuesday “the principle of the inviolability of diplomatic and consular premises,” according to his spokesman Stephane Dujarric. Guterres also said diplomatic personnel “must be respected in all cases in accordance with international law.”
The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting on Tuesday at Tehran’s request.
Gulf monarchies Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar condemned the strike as fears grow of a widening regional conflict. The 22-state Arab League slammed Israel, saying it aims to “expand the war and push the region to chaos.”
Iran’s official news agency IRNA said Iran relayed an important message to the U.S. late Monday, delivered through a Swiss envoy in Tehran. Switzerland looks after U.S. interests in Iran as Washington and Tehran have no diplomatic relations.
IRNA also said Iran holds the U.S., Israel’s closest ally, responsible for the strike.