World leaders have vented their fury at Israel following an ‘outrageous’ drone strike on a convoy of aid workers from the charity World Central Kitchen which killed seven, including three British armed forces heroes.
The humanitarian convoy of three cars, which were clearly marked as belonging to the humanitarian organisation while moving along a route approved by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), was blasted in a ‘triple tap’ strike on Monday.
Israel’s actions have triggered international condemnation, with leaders in the UK, the US, Poland, Canada, and Australia – the countries the foreign nationals in the group hailed from – among those calling for accountability.
Among the passengers in the doomed aid convoy were former Royal Marine James Henderson, 33; former SBS soldier John Chapman, 57; as well as a British military veteran James Kirby.
Britain summoned the Israeli ambassador to London and has demanded ‘full accountability’ over the deaths, which foreign secretary David Cameron described as ‘completely unacceptable’.
Israel has apologised for what it called ‘a grave mistake’ and said it is investigating the incident. The UK government could now suspend arms sales to Israel once it has established the all of the facts of the incident, inside sources have reportedly said.
As well as the mounting Gazan death toll – with more than 32,000 killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry – an unprecedented number of humanitarian workers have been killed in the conflict.
At least 196 aid workers, including 175 members of the UN staff, have now been killed since October 7, according to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the seven victims in the WCK aid convoy ‘join a record number of humanitarian workers who have been killed in this particular conflict.’
In a strongly worded statement, US President Joe Biden said Israel ‘has not done enough to protect aid workers trying to deliver desperately needed help to civilians.’
He called for a ‘swift’ investigation to bring accountability to what he said was not a ‘stand alone incident’.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the strike ‘unconscionable’ but ‘an inevitable result of the way the war is being conducted’.
‘It demonstrates yet again the urgent need for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.’
Professor Ben Saul, UN Special Rapporteur on protecting human rights while countering terrorism, suggested that the killing of the WCK workers could be a war crime.
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