Bodies of foreign aid workers killed in Israeli strike leave Gaza

CAIRO — The bodies of foreign aid workers killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza were brought to the crossing with Egypt on Wednesday as international outrage simmered over an attack that highlighted the dangers faced by humanitarian staff in the enclave.

The strike late on Monday night hit a convoy of three vehicles and killed seven staff of the aid group World Central Kitchen (WCK), including citizens of Australia, Britain, and Poland, a dual citizen of the United States and Canada as well as a Palestinian colleague, who was buried at his home.

Their deaths prompted a wave of condemnation from some of Israel’s closest allies, including U.S. President Joe Biden, who said he was “outraged” by what he said was “not a stand-alone incident”.

More than 2 million people in Gaza are now almost completely reliant on aid shipments almost six months into Israel’s devastating siege and invasion of the territory triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7 crossborder attack.

In Gaza, there were calls for stronger action to stop Israel continuing with a military campaign that local health authorities say has killed more than 32,000 people.

“This is a sign that the weapons provided by the British and American governments in support of the Israeli occupation army in weapons, money, and equipment do not differentiate between Palestinians and other nationalities,” said Marwan Al-hams, director of the Abu Youssef Al-najjar Hospital in Rafah.

The bodies of the foreign aid workers were handed over to U.N. officials at the Egyptian border for transport home.

REUTERS People carry the body of one of the foreign workers from the World Central Kitchen (WCK), who were killed in an Israeli airstrike, before they are transported to their families outside Gaza, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip April 3.