Israeli airstrike claims lives of aid workers in Gaza
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday an Israeli airstrike that killed seven people working for celebrity chef Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen charity in Gaza was unintended and “tragic,” and the military pledged an independent inquiry.
The Israeli military confirmed the deadly strike on a WCK convoy that killed citizens of Australia, Britain and Poland as well as Palestinians and a dual citizen of the United States and Canada. WCK said they were travelling in two armoured cars emblazoned with the charity’s logo and another vehicle.
The military expressed “sincere sorrow” and promised an independent investigation into the incident, which drew widespread condemnation and ratcheted up pressure for steps to ease the disastrous humanitarian situation in Gaza.
“Unfortunately in the past day there was a tragic event in which our forces unintentionally harmed non-combatants in the Gaza Strip,” Netanyahu said in a video statement. “This happens in war. We are conducting a thorough inquiry and are in contact with the governments. We will do everything to prevent a recurrence.”
Israel has long denied accusations that it is hindering the distribution of urgently needed food aid in Gaza, which it has besieged in a war since October, saying the problem is caused by international aid groups’ inability to get it to those in need.
Despite co-ordinating movements with the Israeli military, the convoy was hit as it was leaving its Deir al-balah warehouse after unloading more than 100 tons of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza by sea, WCK said.
“This is not only an attack against WCK, this is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the most dire of situations where food is being used as a weapon of war,” said Erin Gore, chief executive of
World Central Kitchen. “This is unforgivable.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington had spoken directly to close ally Israel’s government and “urged a swift, thorough and impartial investigation to understand exactly what happened.” Blinken, speaking to reporters in Paris, added that humanitarian workers must be protected.
“These people are heroes, they run into the fire, not away from it,” he said of the seven NGO workers. “We shouldn’t have a situation where people who are simply trying to help their fellow human beings are themselves at grave risk.”
The Israeli military (IDF) said it was conducting a thorough review at the highest levels to understand the circumstances of what it called a tragic incident, and pledged an investigation by “an independent, professional and expert body.”
Israel has been under rising international pressure to alleviate the severe hunger in Gaza, which has been devastated by months of fighting the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas. Much of the densely populated territory has been laid waste and most of its 2.3 million population displaced.
The United Nations and other international groups have accused Israel of hindering aid distribution with bureaucratic obstacles and failing to ensure the security of food convoys, underlined by a disaster on Feb. 29, in which around 100 people were killed as they awaited an aid delivery.
Hamas, Gaza’s dominant group, has said the main problem with aid distribution was Israeli targeting of aid workers. After the latest incident, it issued a statement saying the attack aimed to terrorize workers of international humanitarian agencies, deterring them from their missions.
Last week, the World Court ordered Israel to take all necessary and effective action to ensure basic food supplies to the enclave’s Palestinian population and halt spreading famine.