The United Kingdom government recalled this Tuesday (2) the Israeli ambassador to London, Tzipi Hotovely, due to the death of three British aid workers from the NGO World Central Kitchen (WCK) in an Israeli attack in the Gaza Strip.
In a statement, the British Foreign Ministry stressed that “the unequivocal condemnation of the horrific death of seven WCK collaborators, including three British citizens”, was conveyed to the ambassador.
The NGO founded by Spanish chef José Andrés had previously reported the death of a British citizen.
In the meeting with the ambassador, the Secretary of State for Development and Africa, Andrew Mitchell, demanded a quick and transparent investigation, which is also shared with the international community and results in full accountability.
Likewise, Mitchell urged Hotovely that Israel immediately implement a de-escalation mechanism and allow more humanitarian aid to urgently reach Gaza.
In addition to the ambassador’s summons, British Foreign Minister David Cameron spoke by telephone with his Israeli counterpart, Israel Katz, to urge his country to “urgently explain how this happened” and to make “major changes that guarantee the safety of humanitarian workers on the ground.”
Cameron called the deaths of the WCK workers “completely unacceptable” in his conversation with Katz.
Earlier, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was “shocked and saddened” by the news and called for an urgent investigation because “there are clearly questions that need answers.”
An independent entity, the Fact-Finding and Assessment Mechanism, will investigate the attack in which seven NGO aid workers were killed in Gaza, the Israeli Army said on Tuesday.
For its part, WCK announced that it is suspending its operations in Gaza after confirming the deaths of its seven workers.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted that the Israeli Army unintentionally killed WCK aid workers in the Gaza Strip.
“Unfortunately, on the last day there was a tragic case in which our forces unintentionally targeted innocent people in the Gaza Strip,” said the prime minister.
Netanyahu, who was released on Tuesday from the hospital where he underwent surgery for a hernia, reiterated that the incident will be investigated thoroughly and said that “this type of situation can happen during a war.” “We will do everything we can to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” he said.
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