An Israeli air strike allegedly killed seven aid workers on Monday who had been providing assistance to the besieged Gaza Strip, according to nonprofit group World Central Kitchen.
World Central Kitchen aid workers from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, and the Palestinian territories and a dual citizen of the United States and Canada were killed in the strike, while the group is now pausing its operations to discuss the “future of our work,” the organization said in a statement.
“Despite coordinating movements with the IDF, the convoy was hit as it was leaving the Deir al-Balah warehouse, where the team had unloaded more than 100 tons of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza on the maritime route,” the group’s statement continued.
“Today [World Central Kitchen] lost several of our sisters and brothers in an IDF air strike in Gaza,” World Central Kitchen founder Jose Andres wrote on X. “I am heartbroken and grieving for their families and friends and our whole WCK family.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged on Tuesday “a tragic case of our forces unintentionally hitting innocent people in the Gaza Strip” and said that they would “do everything so that this thing does not happen again.”
The Israel Defense Forces said it is “conducting a thorough review at the highest levels to understand the circumstances of this tragic incident.” IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said on Tuesday he had spoken with Andres to express their condolences.
The World Central Kitchen organization has sought to provide humanitarian aid to the besieged strip, where experts warn that famine is a significant concern.
Israel maintains tight restrictions on what can enter Gaza at the handful of crossings where aid can cross from Israel into the strip. Israeli officials argued they are allowing plenty of aid to get into Gaza, while the U.S. and many Western countries have urged them to do more for the plight of Palestinian civilians.
U.S. National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson expressed her condolences and urged Israel to investigate the strike.
“We are heartbroken and deeply troubled by the strike that killed [World Central Kitchen] aid workers in Gaza,” she said. “Humanitarian aid workers must be protected as they deliver aid that is desperately needed, and we urge Israel to swiftly investigate what happened.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Australian and Polish authorities also reached out to their Israeli counterparts for an explanation behind the strike.
World Central Kitchen has been one of the few aid organizations that have been able to get aid into Gaza throughout the war. Last month, the organization led an initiative to get aid to Gaza by way of the Mediterranean Sea. The U.S. military is in the process of building a port off Gaza’s coast in the sea to allow for more aid to be brought to the strip by ship.