Several humanitarian aid workers were killed in an Israeli strike in the Gaza Strip

“World Central Kitchen (WCK) lost several of its sisters and brothers today in the Israeli military strike in the Gaza Strip,” said chef Jose Andres, founder of the non-governmental organization.

US-based World Central Kitchen called the incident a tragedy and reiterated that “aid workers and civilians should never be targeted.”

The bodies of four foreign aid workers and their Palestinian driver were brought to a hospital in the city of Deir al-Bala after Israel struck their car, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Hamas said the aid workers included “British, Australian and Polish nationals, while the nationality of a fourth is unknown.”

World Central Kitchen is one of two non-governmental organizations leading the effort to ship aid from Cyprus. It is also involved in the construction of a temporary marina in the Gaza Strip.

In Al-Aqsa Hospital, an AFP correspondent saw five bodies with three foreign passports lying next to them.

The Israeli military said it was “conducting a thorough, top-level investigation to determine the circumstances of this tragic incident,” adding that it was “working closely with the WCK” to provide aid to the Palestinians.

After six months of war and stern warnings from the United Nations that all 2.4 million the population of this territory is at risk of starvation, Israel has come under enormous international pressure to increase the flow of humanitarian aid to the blockaded section.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed on Tuesday that one of several aid workers killed in a strike in the Gaza Strip was an Australian citizen.

Mr Albanese said volunteer Zomi Frankcom had done “extremely valuable work” helping to distribute food in the besieged Gaza Strip, adding that Australia would “seek full and appropriate accountability”.

The White House said it was saddened by the deaths of aid workers.

“We are heartbroken and deeply troubled by this attack,” White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson wrote on X, adding that “aid workers must be protected as they provide much-needed aid.” , so we call on Israel to urgently investigate what happened.”

A UN-sponsored report released on March 19 warned that half of the population of the Gaza Strip is catastrophically short of food, and that unless urgent measures are taken, famine could strike in the north of the territory at any time.