White House: We are heartbroken about killing of relief workers in Israeli airstrike in Gaza

The White House expressed deep sorrow on Monday for the killing of several foreign volunteers from the World Central Kitchen (WCK) relief organization in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, calling on the Israeli state to quickly investigate to uncover the circumstances of what happened.

Adrienne Watson, spokesperson for the US National Security Council, wrote on X, "We are heartbroken and deeply troubled by the strike that killed World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza."

She added, "Humanitarian aid workers must be protected as they deliver aid that is desperately needed, and we urge Israel to swiftly investigate what happened."

According to the Hamas-affiliated Ministry of Health, four foreign relief workers from WCK were killed along with their Palestinian driver in an Israeli strike that targeted their armored vehicle in the middle of Gaza on Monday evening.

For its part, the media office of the Hamas government said, "The martyrs are four foreigners, three holding British, Australian, and Polish nationalities, and the fourth nationality is unknown, in addition to the driver, who is a Palestinian translator named Saif Issam Abu Taha."

At Shuhada al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, a correspondent for Agence France-Presse witnessed five bodies, three of which had foreign passports placed on top of them.

AFP