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The US National Security Council urged Israel to investigate after seven members of the aid organization World Central Kitchen were killed in an airstrike in Gaza on Monday night.
The organization said in a statement Tuesday that seven people died in what it said was an attack by the Israel Defense Forces. Staff were traveling in several vehicles when the convoy was hit after leaving an aid warehouse, the organization said.
The victims included staff from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom and Palestine, as well as a US-Canadian citizen, the organization said.
Erin Gore, chief executive of World Food Kitchen, said the incident was “an attack on humanitarian organisations” and “inexcusable”.
“We – World Central Kitchen and the world – lost some wonderful lives today due to a targeted attack by the IDF,” he said.
The IDF said it was “conducting a thorough analysis at the highest levels to understand the circumstances of this tragic incident.”
“The IDF makes great efforts to enable the safe delivery of humanitarian aid and has worked closely with the WCK in their vital efforts to provide food and humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza,” it said in a statement.
NSC spokeswoman Adrienne Watson wrote in a post on X: “We are heartbroken and deeply troubled by the strike that took place [sic] killed @WCKitchen aid workers in Gaza. Aid workers must be protected as they provide desperately needed aid, and we urge Israel to quickly investigate what happened.”
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed that an Australian citizen named Zomi Frankcom was among those killed in the strike.
“Australia expects full responsibility for the deaths of aid workers, which is completely unacceptable,” Albanese said on Tuesday. “Aid workers and those carrying out humanitarian work, and indeed all innocent civilians, must be given protection.”
World Food Kitchen was founded by celebrity chef José Andrés, who previously said in a post on X that the organization had “lost many of our brothers and sisters in an IDF airstrike in Gaza.”