An aid organization said seven foreign workers were killed in an Israeli strike in central Gaza late Monday, including citizens of Australia, Poland and the United Kingdom.
The U.S.-based nonprofit, World Central Kitchen, which provides meals to civilians suffering from hunger due to conflicts and natural disasters, blamed the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in a statement on its website.
“The WCK team was traveling in a deconflicted zone in two armored cars branded with the WCK logo and a soft skin vehicle,” the group’s statement read.
World Central Kitchen added that its convoy was hit “despite coordinating movements with the IDF.”
A Palestinian and a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen were also killed in the strike, the group said.
The IDF said it was conducting “an in-depth examination at the highest levels” into the “tragic incident” but did not say whether it was responsible, according to the Times of Israel.
One of the aid workers killed has been identified by authorities as 43-year-old Australian Lalzawmi Frankcom.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described Frankcom’s death as “completely unacceptable” and said he had summoned the Israeli ambassador.
“We want full accountability for this because this is a tragedy that should never have occurred,” Albanese said.
U.S. National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson wrote on X that the White House is “heartbroken and deeply troubled by the strike” and called on Israel “to swiftly investigate what happened.”
World Central Kitchen said it will be “pausing our operations immediately in the region.” The group has provided hundreds of tons of humanitarian aid to starving Gazans, amounting to more than 42 million meals over 175 days.
More than 70 percent of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million is facing “catastrophic hunger,” according to a United Nations-backed report published last month.
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