Deadly air strike on US food charity ‘unintentional’: Israel
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted yesterday that Israel’s military had “unintentionally” killed seven aid workers with a US charity in an air strike in Gaza.
World Central Kitchen had already said a “targeted attack” by Israeli forces on Monday had killed the group, which included Australian, British, Palestinian, Polish and USCanadian employees.
Netanyahu said it was a “tragic case” that would be investigated “right to the end”.
AFPTV footage showed the roof of a vehicle emblazoned with the group’s logo had been punctured, alongside the mangled wreck of other vehicles.
The White House was “heartbroken”, US National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said on X, stressing that aid workers “must be protected as they deliver aid that is desperately needed”.
Israeli strikes continued throughout the territory with the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza saying 71 people were killed between Monday and yesterday.
The Israeli military on Monday ended a two-week operation around Gaza’s largest hospital, Al-Shifa, which left the complex in ruins and killed hundreds.
And regional tensions have surged after Israel was blamed for a deadly air strike on the Iranian consulate in the Syrian capital Damascus on Monday that killed seven Revolutionary Guards, two of them generals.
Tehran – which backs Hamas and other groups fighting Israel and its allies across the region – has vowed revenge against its long-time foe.
Netanyahu has promised to push on with the war to destroy Hamas despite nightly street protests at home demanding he step down.
He has also faced some pushback from staunch ally the US.
The White House said in a statement Monday it had once again expressed concerns to Israel
about a planned offensive in Gaza’s crowded southern city of Rafah, and Israel had pledged to “take these concerns into account”.
The right-wing Israeli leader also moved Monday to ban broadcasts from Israel by the
Qatar-based news channel Al Jazeera, which he labelled a “terrorist channel”.
The broadcaster, several of whose journalists have been killed and wounded in the war, called his comments a “dangerous, ludicrous lie”. (AFP)