The bodies of six foreign aid workers killed in a Gaza strike were expected to be transported out of the war-torn Palestinian territory via Egypt on Wednesday.
Israeli bombardment killed seven staff of the US-based food charity World Central Kitchen 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 set to be taken out of Gaza through the Rafah crossing with Egypt, said Marwan Al-Hams, director of the city’s Abu Youssef Al-Najjar Hospital.
Israel’s armed forces chief Herzi Halevi called the attack a “grave mistake”, which he blamed on nighttime “misidentification”, adding in a video message that “we are sorry for the unintentional harm to the members of WCK”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier pledged the “tragic case” would be investigated “right to the end”.
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 charged that Israel “has not done enough to protect aid workers trying to deliver desperately needed help to civilians” and called for a “swift” investigation into what he said was not a “stand-alone incident”.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he had voiced his “anger and concern” in a phone call with Netanyahu, while Britain summoned the Israeli ambassador and demanded “full accountability”.
The charity said it was mourning the loss of its seven “heroes” and “beautiful souls”. It said they had been killed in a “targeted attack” that was launched despite the group having coordinated its movements with the Israeli forces.
It named those killed as Palestinian Saifeddine Issam Ayad Abutaha, 25; Australian Lalzawmi (Zomi) Frankcom, 43; Brits John Chapman, 57, James (Jim) Henderson, 33, and James Kirby, 47; Pole Damian Sobol, 35; and US-Canadian Jacob Flickinger, 33.
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