Israeli military expresses ‘sincere sorrow’ over the deaths of seven aid workers
The Israeli military has expressed “sincere sorrow” over the deaths of seven aid workers killed in an airstrike on Gaza, but stopped short of accepting responsibility for it.
Israeli military spokesperson, Rear Adm Daniel Hagari, said the incident would be investigated in the “Fact Finding and Assessment Mechanism”, which his statement called an “independent, professional, and expert body”, without giving further details.
He said he had spoken to the WCK founder, chef José Andrés, and expressed his deepest condolences.
“We also express sincere sorrow to our allied nations who have been doing and continue to do so much to assist those in need,” he said in the statement.
The strike hit an aid convoy, killing seven people working with World Central Kitchen (WCK), a charity spearheading efforts to alleviate looming famine in Gaza.
They were delivering desperately needed food aid that had been brought in by sea. The WCK said Israel was behind the airstrike.
Numerous western officials and ministers have demanded an explanation for the deaths after WCK said those killed were from the UK, Australia, Poland and Palestine, as well as a US-Canada dual citizen.
Key events
Israel has given new draft hostage and ceasefire deal proposal to Hamas – reports
Israel’s delegation will return from Cairo having formulated a new proposal for a ceasefire and hostage release deal with Hamas, Haaretz reports, citing the Mossad.
Reuters is reporting that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also said a new Gaza truce and hostage rleease proposal has been presented.
More details soon …
My colleague Sam Jones earlier put together this explainer of what we know so far about the deaths of seven aid workers in Gaza in what international charity World Central Kitchen (WCK) said was an airstrike carried out by the Israel Defense Forces.
You can read it here: Gaza aid convoy strike: what happened and who were the victims?
European Commission appeals to Israel to ‘respect international humanitarian law’
Lisa O’Carroll
Lisa O’Carroll is in Brussels for the Guardian
The EU has repeated the need for Israel to operate within international law amid continuing fears for the safety of aid workers bringing vital food supplies to starving Palestinians in Gaza.
With an annual budget of €125m (£107m / $134m) for Palestine, the bloc is one of the chief contributors of aid to Gaza, both before and after the Israeli assault on the territory triggered by Hamas’s attack inside southern Israel on 7 October.
A spokesperson said on Tuesday that so far is has contracted €81m of that budget with most food and medical supplies being routed through the Red Cross, Red Crescent, the World Food Programme and Unrwa.
“Our appeal [to Israel] to respect these rules is part of the integral part of our position stressing the need to respect international humanitarian law,” the European Commission’s foreign affairs spokesperson said on Tuesday.
It also has five staff in Cyprus working on a pilot maritime corridor that has so far seen just two boats sail to Gaza since it was launched in the second week in March.
It was aid workers dealing with the distribution of aid from the maritime corridor believed killed by an airstrike carried out by the Israel Defense Forces, although the European Commission said its money had not been behind the World Central Kitchen (WCK) mission.
Summary of the day so far…
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Seven people working with World Central Kitchen, a charity helping to alleviate looming famine in Gaza, have been killed in an Israeli airstrike, the charity said. WCK said those killed were from the UK, Australia, Poland and Palestine, as well as a US-Canada dual citizen. The workers were travelling in two armoured cars branded with the charity’s logo in Deir al-Balah, according to WCK. It said it was immediately “pausing” its operations in the region. Medical officials said the group had been helping to deliver food and other supplies to northern Gaza that had arrived hours early by ship. American Near East Refugee Aid (Anera), which helps provide emergency relief for Palestinians, told BBC News that it is also freezing its operations in Gaza.
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Senior western officials and ministers, including the Australian foreign minister and British foreign secretary, have condemned the airstrike and called for a swift and transparent investigation into it. The Israeli military expressed “sincere sorrow” over the deaths, but stopped short of accepting responsibility for it. Israeli military spokesperson, Rear Adm Daniel Hagari, said the incident would be investigated in the “Fact Finding and Assessment Mechanism”, which his statement called an “independent, professional, and expert body”, without giving further details. “We also express sincere sorrow to our allied nations who have been doing and continue to do so much to assist those in need,” he said in the statement.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) said the destruction of al-Shifa hospital in Gaza amounted to “ripping the heart out” of the health system of the territory. “Destroying al-Shifa means ripping the heart out of the health system,” WHO spokesperson, Margaret Harris, said. “It was the place people go to for the kind of care that a really good health system provides, that we in all our societies expect to have should we be in need.” Israeli forces left al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on Monday after a two-week operation by special forces that left most of the major medical complex in ruins.
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Iran’s president, Ebrahim Raisi, has vowed revenge after Israeli war planes destroyed the Iranian consulate in Damascus, killing at least 11 people, including a senior commander in the al-Quds force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps “After repeated defeats and failures against the faith and will of the Resistance Front fighters, the Zionist regime has put blind assassinations on its agenda in the struggle to save itself,” Raisi said on his office’s website. “Day by day, we have witnessed the strengthening of the Resistance Front and the disgust and hatred of free nations towards the illegitimate nature of (Israel). This cowardly crime will not go unanswered.”
The UK’s prime minister, Rishi Sunak, has said the government’s “longstanding” view is that Israel has the “intention and the ability” to comply with international humanitarian law.
He said:
Our view is longstanding that Israel has both the intention and the ability to comply with international humanitarian law, I’ve made that very clear to prime minister Netanyahu whenever I’ve spoken to him.
There have been too many civilian deaths in Gaza, of course we want to see an immediate humanitarian pause so that we can get the hostages out and more aid into the region.
His comments come after the World Central Kitchen charity said seven of its workers were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza.
Lisa O’Carroll
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, has sent her condolences to the families of the workers with World Central Kitchen who lost their lives.
I pay homage to the @WCKitchen aid workers who lost their lives in Gaza.@WCKitchen is a crucial partner in alleviating the suffering of the people of Gaza, including by channeling food via the Maritime Corridor.
My deepest condolences to their families and friends. https://t.co/BFYq0jaGyq
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) April 2, 2024
Janez Lenarcic, European commissioner for crisis management, has condemned the attack on aid workers in Gaza.
The Polish foreign ministry is seeking official confirmation from Israel about reports a Polish person was among the seven aid workers killed during an Israeli strike on Gaza.
The president of the city of Przemysl, in southeastern Poland, identified the volunteer as Damian Sobol.
While Poland finds the reports of the death credible, it is currently unable to confirm their personal details while the identification process is ongoing.
The EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, has condemned the Israeli airstrike on Gaza which killed seven members of the World Central Kitchen.
He has called for an investigation into the “attack”, which he says reinforces the need for an immediate ceasefire and full humanitarian access into the enclave.
I pay tribute to the @WCKitchen staff members killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza.
I condemn the attack and urge an investigation.
Despite all the demands to protect civilians and humanitarian workers, we see new innocent casualties.
— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) April 2, 2024
Borrell has previously said that Israel is provoking famine in Gaza and using starvation as a weapon of war, a claim Israel rejects, and has said the US should put more pressure on Israel to allow more aid into Gaza.
David Cameron calls for ‘transparent explanation’ from Israel over aid worker deaths
The UK’s foreign secretary, David Cameron, has called for a “full, transparent explanation” from Israel after seven aid workers, including a British national, were killed in an Israeli airstrike.
The former Conservative prime minister said:
The news of the airstrike that killed World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers in Gaza is deeply distressing.
These were people who were working to deliver life-saving aid to those who desperately need it.
It is essential that humanitarian workers are protected and able to carry out their work.
We have called on Israel to immediately investigate and provide a full, transparent explanation of what happened.
Cyprus’s president called for an immediate probe into the killing of seven aid workers in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza, saying the US- based World Central Kitchen charity they were members of was a “crucial partner” in its initiative to get aid to the enclave by sea.
“We need to double down on efforts to get aid to Gaza,” Nikos Christodoulides said, after a meeting with the European parliament president, Roberta Metsola.
Israeli military expresses ‘sincere sorrow’ over the deaths of seven aid workers
The Israeli military has expressed “sincere sorrow” over the deaths of seven aid workers killed in an airstrike on Gaza, but stopped short of accepting responsibility for it.
Israeli military spokesperson, Rear Adm Daniel Hagari, said the incident would be investigated in the “Fact Finding and Assessment Mechanism”, which his statement called an “independent, professional, and expert body”, without giving further details.
He said he had spoken to the WCK founder, chef José Andrés, and expressed his deepest condolences.
“We also express sincere sorrow to our allied nations who have been doing and continue to do so much to assist those in need,” he said in the statement.
The strike hit an aid convoy, killing seven people working with World Central Kitchen (WCK), a charity spearheading efforts to alleviate looming famine in Gaza.
They were delivering desperately needed food aid that had been brought in by sea. The WCK said Israel was behind the airstrike.
Numerous western officials and ministers have demanded an explanation for the deaths after WCK said those killed were from the UK, Australia, Poland and Palestine, as well as a US-Canada dual citizen.
World Health Organization: destruction of Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital ‘rips heart out of health system’
The World Health Organization (WHO) said the destruction of al-Shifa hospital in Gaza amounted to “ripping the heart out” of the health system of the enclave.
“Destroying al-Shifa means ripping the heart out of the health system,” WHO spokesperson, Margaret Harris, was quoted by Reuters as saying.
“It was the place people go to for the kind of care that a really good health system provides, that we in all our societies expect to have should we be in need.”
Israeli forces left al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on Monday after a two-week operation by special forces that left most of the major medical complex in ruins.
The Hamas-run Gaza media office said Israeli forces killed 400 Palestinians around the hospital and put the medical facility out of function.
The Israeli military said it had killed and detained hundreds of gunmen in clashes in the area of the hospital, and seized weaponry and intelligence documents.
The president of the city of Przemysl, in southeastern Poland, identified the Polish volunteer who was killed in the Israeli airstrike in Gaza as Damian Sobol.
“Yesterday, our colleague, resident of Przemysl, volunteer, member of the World Central Kitchen team – Damian Sobol, was killed in a rocket attack by Israeli forces on a humanitarian convoy delivering food in the Gaza Strip,” he wrote on Facebook.
“There are no words to describe what people who knew this fantastic guy feel at this moment … May he rest in peace.”
Foreign ministry spokesperson Pawel Wronski told reporters Poland was checking reports of the death of the Polish volunteer.
“We are currently urgently verifying this information,” he said. “We have asked the Israeli authorities, security forces and the Israeli armed forces for explanations.”
Deputy justice minister Arkadiusz Myrcha told state news channel TVP Info there would be an investigation into the incident.
“There is no exception here, of course every death must be explained and such proceedings should be initiated here,” he said.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, will hold talks in Paris on Tuesday after seven aid workers were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza.
Blinken arrived in the French capital before heading to Brussels for a Nato ministerial meeting on Wednesday.
France on Monday proposed a draft UN security council resolution that seeks options for possible UN monitoring of a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and proposals to help the Palestinian Authority assume responsibilities.
Lisa O’Carroll
The EU has called for a “thorough investigation” into the deaths of seven aid workers in Gaza bringing food from the World’s Central Kitchen to starving Palestinians.
“We are mourning with the families and friends of the @WCKitchen humanitarian aid workers who lost their lives in Gaza,” the European Commission said in a post on X.
“Humanitarian aid workers must always be protected, in line with international humanitarian law. We call for a thorough investigation into this tragedy.”
We are mourning with the families and friends of the @WCKitchen humanitarian aid workers who lost their lives in Gaza.
Humanitarian aid workers must always be protected, in line with international humanitarian law.
We call for a thorough investigation into this tragedy.
— European Commission (@EU_Commission) April 2, 2024
The EU, along with the US and Cyprus, were instrumental in establishing a maritime corridor to bring aid to Gaza across the Mediterranean.
A pilot delivery with a ship operated by a Spanish search and rescue group, Open Arms, taking 200 tonnes of food provided by the charity, World Central Kitchen, arrived in Gaza in the second week in March.
Second charity providing relief to Palestinians pausing Gaza operations
Another US-based charity, American Near East Refugee Aid (Anera), which helps provide emergency relief for Palestinians, has told BBC News that it is also freezing its operations in Gaza, following on from the World Central Kitchen’s (WCK) announcement earlier.
“Anera and WCK are pausing our Gaza operations. Together, Anera and WCK provide some 2 million meals a week in Gaza,” Sean Carroll, the charity’s CEO, said.
Asked about the impact the decision to suspend food provision would have on Palestinian people, whom face a looming famine, Caroll said: “The occupying power has an obligation under international law to provide for the people under occupation.”
Anera, which has been working closely with WCK in recent months, says on its website that it works on the ground with partners in Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan.
It said that its medical team helped treat hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza on Sunday and Monday, providing displaced people free medication in the process.
The seven WCK aid workers were killed by a suspected Israeli airstrike fired on their convoy south of Deir al-Balah late on Monday. Medical officials said the group had been helping to deliver food and other supplies to northern Gaza that had arrived hours earlier by ship.
While Israel has claimed it is allowing aid into Gaza, senior UN, US and other international officials, as well as NGOs, have accused the country of obstructing life-saving aid to Gaza’s population of 2.3 million.
The UN said last week that famine was “ever closer to becoming a reality in northern Gaza” and that the health system was collapsing owing to the continuing hostilities and “access constraints”.
