“Following reports of the incident involving employees of the World Central Kitchen organization in the Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces began an in-depth investigation (…) to understand all the circumstances,” he said, in a message on the social network X (formerly Twitter) .
The Israeli army assured that it has made “great efforts” to allow access and safe passage of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, working “in full cooperation and coordination” with the World Central Kitchen “to support efforts to provide food and humanitarian aid to residents of the Gaza Strip.”
The United States said it was “deeply concerned” about the attack and called on Israel to quickly investigate what happened.
White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said on social media site X that “humanitarian workers must be protected as they deliver desperately needed aid.”
After the attack, the organization’s founder and Spanish chef José Andrés called on Israel to “end the indiscriminate killings” and “stop using food as a weapon”, referring to restrictions on the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian enclave. .
The Health Ministry of the Gaza Strip, controlled by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, said Monday’s attack killed four Hamas employees and a Palestinian driver after they helped deliver food.
The Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, confirmed this morning that one of the dead, Zomi Frankcom, was an Australian citizen and assured that the country will “seek to ascertain responsibility” for the attack.
Albanese told journalists that Canberra has already directly contacted the Government of Tel Aviv and the Israeli ambassador to Australia, Amir Maimon, to clarify a “completely unacceptable” event.
According to the Associated Press and EFE news agencies, the fatalities also include a Briton, an Irishman and a Pole.
The attack reportedly took place after the victims distributed goods in northern Gaza, arrived hours earlier by sea from Cyprus.
The aid ships transported around 400 tons of food and supplies in a shipment organized by the United Arab Emirates and World Central Kitchen.
The war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, ongoing for almost six months, has displaced most of Gaza’s population and put a third of the enclave’s inhabitants on the brink of starvation.
VQ // EJ
By Impala News / Lusa
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