The president, Joe Biden, declared himself "outraged" by the Israeli attack in Gaza that killed seven humanitarian workers from the World Central Kitchen (the organization of chef José Andrés), including an American.
"They were delivering food to hungry civilians in the middle of a war. They were brave and selfless. Their deaths are a tragedy," Biden said in a statement released by the White House.
The text indicated that "Israel is committed to carrying out a thorough investigation into why humanitarian workers' vehicles were targeted by airstrikes.
That investigation must be swift, it must demand accountability, and its findings must be made public."
One of the World Central Kitchen cars hit during the Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip. Associated Press
The statement says that the most tragic thing about the incident is that it is not an isolated incident. "This conflict has been one of the worst in recent times in terms of the number of humanitarian workers killed. This is one of the main reasons why the distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza has been so difficult: because
Israel has not done what enough to protect humanitarian workers
trying to deliver desperately needed aid to civilians.
The White House text stressed that these types of incidents should not occur and that the Israeli Government has not done enough to protect the lives of civilians in the Gaza Strip.
"The United States has repeatedly urged Israel to separate its military operations against Hamas from those of a humanitarian nature to avoid civilian casualties," the document expanded.
The White House pledged to continue doing everything possible to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza residents "by every means possible."
Biden indicated that "
I will continue to press Israel to do more to facilitate that aid
. And we are pushing hard for an immediate ceasefire as part of a hostage agreement. I have a team in Cairo working on it right now," accurate.
The president reported that this Tuesday he spoke with chef José Andrés, founder of World Central Kitchen, and conveyed his regret for the deaths, and his support for the work they do to bring food to thousands of people in need around the world.
The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, said this Tuesday that the military attack “was not intentional,” and pledged to investigate “thoroughly” and “do everything possible so that” a massacre like this against “does not happen again.” innocent people in the Gaza Strip.”
For his part, Herzi Halevi, chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF, in English), apologized for the attack and added in a video published on the social network ” which is being investigated.
“I want to be very clear: the attack was not carried out with the intention of harming WCK [World Central Kitchen] humanitarian workers.
It was a mistake that followed a mistaken identification
, at night during a war in very complex conditions. It should not have happened,” he said in his message.