The diplomatic backlash against Israel continued to escalate over the deaths of seven aid workers, among them an American, in an errant airstrike in Gaza.
Leaders of the countries whose citizens were killed in the attack expressed their dismay and called on Israel to carry out a swift investigation into the strike on a convoy transporting seven workers with the humanitarian organization World Central Kitchen.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that “he was appalled by the killing of aid workers” — as he was pressured by members of the opposition to stop sending arms to Israel after three UK nationals were killed in the attack.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk also turned critical of Israel, as one of the killed workers was from his nation.
“The vast majority of Poles showed full solidarity with Israel after the Hamas attack,” Tusk wrote on X.
“Today you are putting this solidarity to a really hard test. The tragic attack on volunteers and your reaction arouse understandable anger.”
The US-based World Central Kitchen, founded by Spanish celebrity chef Jose Andres, named the victims on Tuesday as dual US-Canada citizen Jacob Flickinger, 33; Lalzawmi (Zomi) Frankcom, 43, an Australian; John Chapman, 57, James (Jim) Henderson, 33, and James Kirby, 47, Britons; Damian Sobol, 35, a Pole; and Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha, 25, a Palestinian.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese decried the “completely unacceptable” attack, calling it a “tragedy that should never have occurred.”
Canada’s Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said her country expects full accountability for the aid workers’ killings.
“Strikes on humanitarian personnel are absolutely unacceptable,” she wrote on X.
Netanyahu said in a video message Tuesday that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) air attack that killed “innocent people” was unintended, adding, “This happens in war.”
In a post on X following Tusk’s comments, Israel’s ambassador to Poland Yacov Livne said Israel had “repeatedly expressed our deep regret, sorrow and condolences over the tragic loss of life of @WCKitchen workers.”
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday dismissed explanations provided by Israel about the airstrike as “unacceptable and insufficient.”
“We are awaiting a much stronger and more detailed clarification, after which we’ll see what action to take,” Sanchez on a visit to Qatar.
The UK’s Sunak said he spoke to Netanyahu and told him that “he was appalled by the killing of aid workers” — but he resisted calls to halt weapons exports to Israel.
“We’ve always had a very careful export licensing regime that we adhere to,” Sunak said in an interview with the Sun’s politics show “Never Mind the Ballots.” “There are a set of rules, regulations and procedures that we’ll always follow.”
The British PM added that he has been clear with Netanyahu throughout the conflict that while the UK recognizes Israel’s right to defend itself from Hamas, “they have to do that in accordance with humanitarian law, protect civilian lives, get more aid into Gaza,” he said.
Sunak addressed the issue of weapons sales after the opposition Liberal Democrats said his government “must take swift action to suspend arms exports to Israel.”
“For years Liberal Democrats have called for far tougher control of arms exports, so that British arms are not being used in conflicts such as the devastating one in Gaza,” LibDems party leader Ed Davey wrote on X.
Scottish National Party also spoke out in support of halting the weapons sales and said parliament should be recalled from its Easter break to discuss the crisis.
A majority of people in Britain back a ban on arms export to Israel, according to a poll published in The Guardian, which found 56% of respondents supporting the measure, compared to just 17% opposing it.
The British government has sold weapons and military components worth more than $719 million to Israel since 2008.
President Biden joined the chorus of condemnation against Israel, the US’ close ally, saying he was “outraged and heartbroken” by the killings of the aid workers delivering food to Gaza’s desperate population — and demanded accountability and transparency from Israel.
“Even more tragically, this is not a stand-alone incident,” he said. “This conflict has been one of the worst in recent memory in terms of how many aid workers have been killed.”
Biden argued that Israel, which has been battling Hamas since the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks, has not done enough to protect humanitarian workers or civilians in Gaza.
“The United States has repeatedly urged Israel to deconflict their military operations against Hamas with humanitarian operations, in order to avoid civilian casualties,” he said.
At least 196 humanitarian workers have been killed in Gaza since the outbreak of the war, according to the United Nations.
In his phone call with the Israeli leader on Tuesday, Sunak said he told him the current situation in Gaza was “increasingly intolerable.”
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said Tuesday that the airstrike was “a mistake that followed a misidentification — at night during a war in very complex conditions. It shouldn’t have happened.”
The Israeli military promised an investigation by “an independent, professional and expert body.”
With Post wires