News Desk, Bangladesh Global: At least five foreign aid workers with the World Central Kitchen (WCK) charity, including citizens from Australia, Britain, and Poland, have been killed in an Israeli airstrike in central Gaza, a Gaza government media official said. The Hamas-run Gaza government said at least one Palestinian was also killed in strike in the city of Deir al-Balah.
In a statement, the Islamist group Hamas said the attack was intended to terrorise international humanitarian workers and stop them from carrying out their operations.
The Israeli military said it was conducting a thorough inquiry at the highest levels to better understand the circumstances behind what it described as a tragic incident.
Celebrity chef Jose Andres, who founded WCK in 2010 by sending cooks and food to Haiti following an earthquake, expressed his heartbreak and grief for the families and friends of those killed in the incident.
"The Israeli government needs to stop this indiscriminate killing," he said on social media. "It needs to stop restricting humanitarian aid, stop killing civilians and aid workers, and stop using food as a weapon. No more innocent lives lost. Peace starts with our shared humanity. It needs to start now."
The WCK delivers food relief and prepares meals for people in need. It said last month it had served more than 42 million meals in Gaza over 175 days.
Palestinian health officials said a separate Israeli air strike on a house killed six people in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians were sheltering.
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