Aid workers killed while delivering food in enclave

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — An apparent Israeli airstrike killed six international aid workers with the World Central Kitchen charity, or WCK, and their Palestinian driver, the aid group said on Tuesday, as they were delivering food from its latest shipment to Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been pushed to the brink of famine by Israel's offensive against Hamas.

Footage showed bodies of the dead at a hospital in the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah. Several of them wore protective gear with the charity's logo. Those killed include three from Britain, one from Australia, one from Poland, and a United States and Canadian dual citizen, according to hospital records.

"This is not only an attack against WCK, this is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the most dire situations where food is being used as a weapon of war," Erin Gore, CEO of the charity, said. "This is unforgivable."

The source of the fire late on Monday could not be independently confirmed. The Israeli military said it was conducting a review "to understand the circumstances of this tragic incident".

The food charity founded by celebrity chef Jose Andres said it was immediately suspending operations in the region. The strike marked a potentially major setback to efforts to deliver aid by sea as Israel heavily restricts access to northern Gaza, where experts say famine is imminent.

"The WCK team was traveling in a deconflicted zone in two armored cars branded with the WCK logo and a soft skin vehicle," the charity said in a statement.

"Despite coordinating movements with the (Israeli army), the convoy was hit as it was leaving the Deir al-Balah warehouse, where the team had unloaded more than 100 metric tons of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza on the maritime route."

Earlier on Monday, three aid ships from the Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus arrived carrying some 400 metric tons of food and supplies organized by the charity and the United Arab Emirates, the group's second shipment after a pilot run last month.

United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East said in its latest report that 173 of its workers have been killed in Gaza. The figure does not include workers for other aid organizations.

The bodies of aid workers have been taken to a hospital in the southern city of Rafah on the Egyptian border.

Agencies via Xinhua