An Israeli attack
on Monday killed seven humanitarian workers,
several of them foreigners, who were delivering food aid in the besieged Gaza Strip, reported the organization of Spanish-American chef José Andrés, for which they worked.
The entity stopped operating there this Tuesday, amid strong international condemnation and Israel's promise to initiate an independent investigation.
"World Central Kitchen is devastated to confirm that seven members of our team were killed in an IDF (Israeli defense forces) attack in Gaza," the NGO said in a statement.
"I am heartbroken and I am in mourning for the families and friends and the entire WCK family," expressed José Andrés on the X social network.
His organization announced that
it was "interrupting operations"
in Gaza after the death of its workers, originally from "Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, one with dual nationality of the United States and Canada, and Palestine."
One of the victims of the attack that hit the NGO World Central Kitchen is transferred by ambulance to the Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah, in the Gaza Strip, this Tuesday. Photo: AP
The Ministry of Health of this Hamas-controlled territory previously reported that Israeli forces
bombed a Hamas vehicle
, killing the foreign workers and the Palestinian driver.
World Central Kitchen is one of two NGOs in charge of delivering aid to Gaza
on ships from Cyprus, and supports the construction of a temporary dock in the Strip.
Israel vows to investigate
The Israeli military promised to open an investigation to "further examine this serious incident."
Australia denounced a "completely unacceptable" act, Spain, the United Kingdom and Poland
demanded explanations
for what happened.
China declared itself "shocked" by the attack and the head of diplomacy of the European Union (EU) and called for an investigation to be carried out "as soon as possible."
"We are heartbroken and deeply concerned by the attack," US National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson wrote in X.
Palestinian rescue teams remove a victim from under the rubble, after an Israeli bombing in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, this Tuesday. Photo: REUTERS
The Palestinian territory is experiencing a serious humanitarian situation after six months of war, with its 2.4 million inhabitants at risk of famine, according to the UN.
With no concrete prospect for a truce, fighting continues to rage in Gaza, which remains under an almost total blockade that makes the distribution of humanitarian aid difficult.
The conflict has also fueled regional tensions in countries such as Syria, where eleven people died in a bombing against an annex of the Iranian embassy, including seven Revolutionary Guards.
Withdrawal from Al Shifa Hospital
In the Strip, Israel announced
the withdrawal of its troops from Al Shifa hospital after a two-week operation
in which they killed some 200 combatants.
A spokesman for Gaza's civil defense agency, run by Hamas, reported 300 deaths from the Israeli operation.
Images taken by an AFP journalist after the Israeli withdrawal showed the hospital reduced to a field of rubble and ruins.
In the vicinity of the complex, doctors and civilians said more than 20 bodies were recovered, some of them crushed by military vehicles during their retreat.
A van from the NGO World Central Kitchen, attacked by Israeli forces in Gaza. Photo: AFP
"The tanks passed over the bodies," said a witness who preferred not to give his name.
Meanwhile, military operations continued in the Nasser and Al Amal hospital sectors in Khan Younis, in the south, according to Hamas.
The war in Gaza broke out on October 7 after an unprecedented and savage attack by Hamas militants in Israel that left 1,160 dead, most of them civilians, according to an AFP count based on Israeli data. Among the dead were more than 300 soldiers.
The Islamist commandos also took about 250 hostages. Around 130 remain in Gaza, of which 34 have died, according to Israel.
In retaliation, Israel launched an offensive to "annihilate" the ultra-Islamic extremist group that has so far caused 32,916 deaths, mostly women, adolescents and children, according to the latest balance sheet from the Ministry of Health of the Palestinian movement.
Negotiations paralyzed
Negotiations mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States for a ceasefire are unsuccessful, with
the two sides blaming each other for the stalemate.
A senior Hamas official cast doubt on the possibility of making progress in the talks due to the large differences between the two sides.
On Monday, the group apologized for the first time to Gazans for the difficulties of the conflict, but reaffirmed its fight to achieve "victory and freedom" for the Palestinians.
The goal of a ceasefire is to allow the release of Israeli hostages and more humanitarian aid into Gaza.
It also seeks to prevent an Israeli ground assault on the city of Rafah, in the far south of Gaza, where 1.5 million people are crowded.
Source: AFP
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