Bodies of six foreign aid workers killed in Israeli strike arrive in Egypt

AFP | Jerusalem

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The bodies of six foreign aid workers killed in an Israeli strike were yesterday taken out of Gaza to Egypt for repatriation, a security source said, as Israel faced a chorus of outrage over their deaths.

The Israeli military killed seven staff of the US-based food charity World Central Kitchen (WCK) on Monday in an attack that UN chief Antonio Guterres labelled “unconscionable” and “an inevitable result of the way the war is being conducted”.

The remains of the six international staff, who were killed alongside one Palestinian colleague, were taken in ambulances to the Rafah crossing to Egypt, where they were handed over to representatives of their respective countries, the security source said on condition of anonymity.

Israel’s armed forces chief Herzi Halevi called the attack a “grave mistake”, which he blamed on night-time “misidentification”, adding in a video message that “we are sorry for the unintentional harm to the members of WCK”.

‘Sorrow and apologies’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged the “tragic case” would be investigated “right to the end”, and President Isaac Herzog expressed his “deep sorrow and sincere apologies”.

The seven deaths piled more pressure on Israel, whose war since the Hamas attack of October 7 has brought devastation and mass civilian casualties to Gaza, where the UN warns the population of 2.4 million is on the brink of famine.

US President Joe Biden said he was “outraged and heartbroken” by the deaths and charged that Israel “has not done enough to protect aid workers trying to deliver desperately needed help to civilians”.

‘Anger and concern’

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he had voiced his “anger and concern” to Netanyahu, while Britain summoned the Israeli ambassador and demanded “full accountability”.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on X to Netanyahu and Israel’s ambassador, saying the deaths were straining ties and that “the tragic attack against volunteers and your reaction are generating an understandable anger”.

Pope Francis also voiced “deep sorrow” and renewed his appeal for access to aid for the “exhausted and suffering civilian population” of Gaza, and for the release of the hostages taken by Hamas.