Four foreigners

Gaza: NGO employees killed in air attack

The Israeli army continues to attack targets in the Gaza Strip.

(Bild: AFP)

Seven employees of an aid organization have been killed in an Israeli attack in the Gaza Strip. World Central Kitchen had "lost several of our sisters and brothers", explained its director José Andrès on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday. According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, four of the victims were foreigners. Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed the death of a national and insisted on the protection of aid workers.

"This is a tragedy that should never have happened," Albanese said about the attack on a World Central Kitchen (WCK) vehicle, according to Australian media. His government had contacted Israel's government directly about the incident, which had happened "outside of all reasonable circumstances". The Department of Foreign Affairs in Canberra had also asked the Israeli ambassador to call. "People providing humanitarian aid and civilians must be protected," emphasized the head of government.

According to the WCK statement, the seven victims came from Australia, Poland, Great Britain and the Palestinian territories - one of the victims also had US and Canadian citizenship.

"Stop killing civilians"
WCK founder Andrès - a Spanish celebrity chef living in the USA - also voiced criticism. He called on the Israeli government to stop the "indiscriminate killing". "It must stop restricting humanitarian aid, stop killing civilians and aid workers and stop using food as a weapon." In a separate statement, the organization said the aid workers were killed "while working to support our humanitarian work of delivering food to Gaza."

World Central Kitchen operates community kitchens in the Gaza Strip with local partners to prepare meals for the Palestinian population. The organization is currently also involved in aid deliveries that have been crossing the sea from Cyprus into the war zone since March.

Met during aid delivery
It has also taken over the distribution of aid supplies on the ground. Photos and video footage that circulated on social media during the night are said to show the killed employees of World Central Kitchen. They show bodies in protective vests and passports covered in blood. According to Palestinian reports, the Australian and her colleagues and their Palestinian driver were delivering aid at the time of the airstrike, wrote The Sydney Morning Herald.

According to Palestinian reports, the aid workers were killed during an Israeli airstrike.

(Bild: AP)

The Israeli military said it was conducting a "thorough investigation at the highest level" "to understand the circumstances of this tragic incident". It added that it had worked closely with WCK in distributing aid to the population in the Gaza Strip.

"Aid workers must be protected"
The White House in Washington declared itself "heartbroken and deeply disturbed by the attack" on Monday evening (local time). The spokesperson for the National Security Council, Adrienne Watson, wrote on X that humanitarian aid workers must be protected when they "provide urgently needed assistance". "We call on Israel to swiftly investigate what happened."

A UN convoy in Gaza

(Bild: AFP)

World Central Kitchen is involved in aid deliveries for Gaza, which have been reaching the war zone by sea from Cyprus since March. The organization has also taken over the distribution of relief supplies and prepares meals for the needy.

Troops withdrawn from Al-Shifa hospital
Meanwhile, in the north of the Gaza Strip, medical teams searched the rubble of the Al-Shaifa hospital to recover injured people and bodies. The Israeli army withdrew its troops from the area on Monday after a two-week operation. According to Israeli sources, the operation was directed against senior Hamas members in the complex in the city of Gaza.

An Israeli army spokesman said on Monday evening that Israeli troops had "killed more than 200 terrorists" at the hospital site and arrested more than 900 people on suspicion of "terrorist acts". Doctors and civilians told the AFP news agency that at least 20 bodies had been found.