World Central Kitchen killings widely condemned as future of aid deliveries uncertain
The Israeli strike on a World Central Kitchen (WCK) vehicle in Gaza killing seven mostly foreign aid workers has been widely denounced by governments and organisations.
Poland, which lost one of its citizens to the attack, condemned what it call a "disregard for international humanitarian law and the protection of civilians, including humanitarian workers".
The comment follows a statement from Australia's prime mi, which demanded immediate accountability as the strike also killed an Australian national.
As at least one of the victims was British, UK Foreign Minister David Cameron called on Israel to "immediately investigate and provide a full, transparent explanation of what happened".
Others such as Jordan, Egypt, Belgium, Iran, and the European Commission similarly condemned the attack and expressed their condolences.
WCK said it will pause its operations in the region following the attack. Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, who is working with the WCK to provide aid to Gaza through a maritime route, said the international community needed to "double down" on efforts to get food into the enclave.
The Save the Children charity accused Israel of restricting the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza while Unicef spokesperson Tess Ingram said that security coordination with Israel in the Gaza Strip is not working.
“That is not functioning here in the Gaza Strip," she said. "We’ve been warning for a while that it’s not working – we’re not getting the security assurances that we need.
"It’s even worse that these people were killed just trying to deliver food to people on the precipice of famine. It’s an unspeakable loss.”