(TEL-AVIV, Israel) — An Israeli attack in Gaza on a convoy of aid workers from World Central Kitchen, the relief organization providing desperately needed food to Palestinians, has generated outrage from the group’s founder, celebrity chef José Andrés and condemnation from around the world.
Israel has apologized for the strikes, which killed seven members of the group late Monday, saying it was an accident in “the fog of war.” They have promised a thorough investigation of the incident, which Andrés said was deliberate.
Nearly six months after Hamas terrorists invaded Israel on Oct. 7, the Israeli military continues its bombardment of the neighboring Gaza Strip. About 1,200 people were killed in the initial terrorist attack, according to Israeli officials, while Israel’s bombing of Gaza has killed more than 32,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Apr 04, 4:15 PM
World Central Kitchen attack is part of pattern, NGOs operating in Gaza say
Officials from humanitarian organizations operating in the Gaza Strip stressed to reporters Thursday that they believe the Israeli airstrikes that killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers on Monday is part of a pattern.
They said other humanitarian workers were targeted and killed before, including doctors, nurses and journalists, but they were Palestinians.
“The condemnation for the World Central Kitchen incident is right and just, but where is it for every other humanitarian worker, for every other hospital that is destroyed, for every attempt to manipulate the media?” said Christopher Lockyear, secretary general of Doctors Without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières. “What happened to [World Central Kitchen] is part of a pattern. … This is about impunity and total disregard of rules of war.”
Asked if the World Central Kitchen attack will significantly decrease humanitarian work in Gaza, Lockyear responded, “We remain present in Gaza, but we are assessing the risks on a daily basis.”
-ABC News’ Camilla Alcini and Ellie Kaufman
Apr 04, 4:11 PM
US warns of policy changes if Israel doesn’t take action to better protect civilians
President Joe Biden spoke Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, their first conversation since seven aid workers from World Central Kitchen were killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza.
Biden had strongly condemned the incident, which Israel’s said was unintentional, saying he was “outraged.”
Biden further expressed to Netanyahu that the strikes on the food relief workers and the overall humanitarian crisis in Gaza are “unacceptable,” according to a White House readout of the call.
For the first time, the White House hinted the president may consider a change in U.S. policy with respect to Gaza if Israel doesn’t take action to better protect civilians and aid workers.
“He made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers,” the readout read. “He made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps.”
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-ABC News’ Molly Nagle and Alexandra Hutzler
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