Israel-Hamas war: Three British aid workers killed in Gaza airstrike, charity says

Charity World Central Kitchen (WCK) said three British aid workers were killed in Israeli air strikes in Gaza.

Nationals from Poland and Australia were also killed, as well as a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen and a Palestinian who was driving the car they were traveling in.

The volunteers are employed by WCK, an NGO that provides food to displaced Palestinians.

The workers are believed to have been helping deliver aid, which had arrived hours earlier on a ship from Cyprus.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged Israeli military responsibility for the airstrike and said it was a “tragic incident in which our forces inadvertently attacked innocent people in the Gaza Strip.”

He added: “This happens in a war and we will get to the bottom of it, we are in contact with governments and we will do everything we can to make sure this never happens again.”

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Lord Cameron said he had spoken to Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz to “stress that the deaths of WCK aid workers, including three British nationals, in Gaza are completely unacceptable”.

The British Foreign Secretary posted on the X social media platform: “Israel must urgently explain how this happened and make significant changes to ensure the safety of aid workers on the ground.”

In an earlier post, Lord Cameron said it was “vital” that humanitarian workers were protected and able to carry out their work and urged Israel to “immediately investigate and provide a full and transparent explanation of what happened”.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak said he was “shocked and saddened” to hear the reports, with Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer also commenting, calling the reports “shocking”.

“We condemn this strike. A full investigation must be conducted and those responsible must be held accountable,” he posted on X.

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Meanwhile, WCK chief executive Erin Gore said the volunteer team was “traveling in a non-conflict area in two WCK-logoed armored vehicles and one soft-vehicle” when they came under attack.

The charity said the convoy came under attack as it left a warehouse in the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah, despite coordinating the operation with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

The company added that it would suspend operations in the region immediately.

“This is a tragedy. Humanitarian responders and civilians should never be targeted,” the charity said in a statement.

Ms Gore added: “This is an attack not only on WCK, but on humanitarian organizations that emerge in the most dire of circumstances when food is used as a weapon of war. It is inexcusable.”

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

Israel’s chief military spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said he had “expressed the IDF’s deepest condolences to the families of the victims and the entire World Central Kitchen family.”

He said the IDF would further investigate the “serious incident” to “help us reduce the risk of such an incident happening again.”