UK summons Israeli ambassador over deaths of humanitarian mission
The British Foreign Office has summoned the Israeli ambassador after an air strike in the Gaza Strip killed seven employees of the World Central Kitchen organization, which provides food to victims of natural disasters.
This was reported by The Telegraph.
The victims were citizens of Australia, Canada, and Poland, as well as an American-Canadian citizen with dual citizenship.
Three of the seven humanitarian workers were British citizens. The dead were Royal Marines James Henderson, 33, and John Chapman, 57. On Tuesday evening, the BBC named the third British soldier who was killed - James Kirby. The organization had warned the Israeli army about the route and had a logo on the roof of the car.
In a telephone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday evening, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was shocked by the incident.
"We’re asking Israel to investigate what happened urgently, because clearly there are questions that need to be answered," the British Prime Minister said.
Sunak emphasized that too many humanitarian workers and civilians have been killed in Gaza and that the situation is becoming increasingly unbearable.
Netanyahu confirmed that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) were involved in the attack on the World Central Kitchen staff cars. He called the attack "unintentional" and described it as a tragic event that "happens" in wartime.
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron called on Israel to make "major changes to ensure the safety of aid workers on the ground".
Also, the British Foreign Office summoned Israeli Ambassador Tzipi Hotovely for a 30-minute meeting with the country's Development Minister Andrew Mitchell.
According to The Telegraph, the convoy was attacked by a drone operated by the operator of Brigade 933, based in the southern city of Khan Younis. Representatives of the Israeli security service noted that the convoy was tracked by IDF drones, and opened fire on it three times. The Israeli military believed that an armed Hamas militant had joined the convoy.
According to the Haaretz newspaper, an Israeli drone fired a missile at one of the convoy's vehicles, after which the mission workers moved to another vehicle, informing their superiors that they were under attack.
A second missile hit the vehicle they had moved to. When the third vehicle in the convoy arrived and attempted to transport the wounded, it was hit by a third missile, killing all of them.
