British volunteer said to be among five aid workers killed in Gaza

The media office of the Hamas-controlled Gaza government said a British volunteer was among five aid workers killed in an apparent Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza.

A spokesman for the media office said those killed in the incident in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza included Polish, Australian and British citizens, as well as a Palestinian.

The Israeli military said it was conducting a thorough review at the highest levels to understand the circumstances of the “tragic” incident.

“The IDF has made extensive efforts to safely deliver humanitarian aid and has been working closely with WCK in their joint effort to provide food and humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza,” the military statement said.

Aid workers came from the charity World Central Kitchen, which provides food to displaced Palestinians.

in a statement Published on X, the charity said: “We are aware of reports that a member of the World Central Kitchen team was killed in an attack by the Israel Defense Forces while they were working to support our humanitarian food delivery efforts in Gaza. This is a tragedy.

“Humanitarian aid workers and civilians should never be targeted. EVER.”

Mahmoud Thabet, a paramedic with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, helped transport the body to the hospital hours after relief supplies from Cyprus arrived in northern Gaza.Tell Associated Press.

The aid ship that arrived on Monday was carrying about 400 tons of food and supplies, delivered by the United Arab Emirates and the World Central Kitchen Organization.

The charity was founded in 2010 by celebrity chef Jose Andres. The charity said last month it had provided more than 42 million meals to Gaza in 175 days.

The United States has touted the sea route as a new way to deliver much-needed aid to northern Gaza, where hundreds of Palestinians face looming famine and Israeli forces have largely cut off ties with the rest of the region.

Israel has banned UN agency UNRWA from sending supplies to the north, and other aid groups say sending convoys of trucks north is too dangerous because of the military’s failure to ensure safe passage.

Earlier, Israeli newspapers reported haaretz The Israeli army has established “killing zones” in Gaza, and anyone who enters them will become a legal target.

The newspaper quoted a reservist officer as saying that IDF commanders have wide latitude to designate areas with loose rules of engagement where soldiers do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

The report noted that this approach could lead to the killing of Palestinian and Israeli civilians.

Separately, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to close Al Jazeera’s local offices while the war in Gaza continues.

Israel’s Knesset approved a law giving the government the power to ban television channels deemed to pose a threat to national security.

Al Jazeera, which is funded by the Qatari government, called the measure an “escalation” and said it was “part of a series of systematic attacks by Israel to suppress Al Jazeera.”

The law approved on Monday will allow Netanyahu and the security cabinet to close the network’s offices in Israel for 45 days, with the possibility of extending that period, and will remain in effect until the end of July or the end of a major military operation in Gaza.

Al Jazeera denies the accusations that it undermines Israel’s security, calling them “dangerous and ridiculous lies” that put its journalists at risk.

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