RAFAH, Gaza Strip — The bodies of six foreign aid workers who were killed in Israeli airstrikes started their journey back to their home countries on Wednesday as they were taken out of the Gaza Strip and into Egypt, according to Palestinian officials.
The deadly attacks have brought back criticism of Israel’s behavior in the almost 6-month-old war with Hamas and shown the dangers to aid workers as they try to bring food to the besieged region. The U.N. states around a third of the Gaza population is close to starvation.
The three British citizens, a Polish citizen, an Australian and a Canadian American dual citizen worked for World Central Kitchen, an international charity founded by celebrity chef José Andrés. Their Palestinian driver was also killed, and his remains were given to his family for burial in Gaza.
The other bodies were taken into Egypt through the Rafah crossing, according to the Palestinian Crossings Authority, which supervises border crossings.
The seven were giving out food that had been brought into Gaza through a newly established maritime corridor when Israeli airstrikes targeted their three vehicles late Monday, killing everyone inside.
Israel said it carried out the attacks by mistake and that it has started an investigation. World Central Kitchen said it had planned its movements with the military, and the vehicles were labeled with the organization’s logo.
Some of Israel’s closest allies condemned the deaths, which caused the World Central Kitchen and other charities to stop food deliveries, citing the serious security situation.
Israel faces increasing isolation as international criticism of its Gaza assault has grown. On the same day as the deadly airstrikes, Israel raised more fears by apparently hitting Iran’s consulate in Damascus, killing two Iranian generals. The government also moved to close down a foreign media outlet — Qatari-owned Al Jazeera television.
The attack on the charity’s convoy highlighted what critics have described as Israel’s unselective bombing and lack of concern for civilian casualties in Gaza.
In an opinion piece published by Israel’s Yediot Ahronot newspaper on Wednesday, Andrés wrote that “the Israeli government needs to open land routes to food and medicine today. It needs to stop killing civilians and aid workers today.”
Andrés, whose organization has provided aid in war and disaster zones worldwide, including to Israelis after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that caused the war, said the attacks “were not just some unfortunate mistake in the fog of war.”
“It was a direct attack on clearly marked vehicles whose movements were known by” the Israeli military. “It was also the direct result of (the Israeli) government’s policy to squeeze humanitarian aid to desperate levels,” Andrés wrote.
Israel has greatly limited access to northern Gaza, where experts say famine is imminent. More than 180 humanitarian workers have been killed in Israel’s assault, according to the U.N.
The deaths of the World Central Kitchen workers threatened to set back efforts by the U.S. and other countries to open a maritime corridor for aid from Cyprus to help ease the desperate conditions in northern Gaza.
About 240 tons of newly arrived but undelivered aid from the charity were sent back by ship to the Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus. However, Cyprus stated that sea deliveries of aid would continue.
U.S. President Joe Biden gave a very direct criticism of Israel, its closest ally, by suggesting that the incident showed that Israel was not doing enough to protect civilians.
He stated that occurrences like yesterday’s should simply not occur. The United States has repeatedly advised Israel to coordinate their military operations against Hamas with humanitarian operations in order to avoid civilian casualties.
Israel’s military chief, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, revealed the findings of a preliminary investigation early Wednesday.
He said it was a mistake due to misidentification, which happened at night during a war in very complex conditions. It shouldn’t have occurred. He did not give further details. He mentioned that an independent body would conduct a thorough investigation that would be completed in the coming days.
Consecutive strikes hit the three vehicles that were at large distances from each other, showing precise targeting. At least one of the vehicles had the charity’s logo printed on its roof to make it identifiable from the air, and the ordnance punched a large hole through the roof.
Meanwhile, the strike on the Iranian Consulate in Damascus on Monday, which the U.S. believed was carried out by Israel, raised fears of a broader conflict. The strike resulted in the death of 12 people.
Gen. Ramazan Sharif, a spokesman for Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, stated on Wednesday that “soon we will see deadlier blows” against Israel by “the Resistance Front.”
He seemed to be referring to Iran and its allies across the region, including the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and other armed groups in Syria, Iraq and Yemen. They have repeatedly exchanged fire with Israel and the U.S. since the beginning of the war in Gaza.
The top U.S. Air Force commander for the Middle East, Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, stated on Wednesday that the U.S. is worried that the Damascus strike could provoke new attacks on American troops by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria.
Militias launched repeated attacks on U.S. forces at bases in those countries at the end of last year, and in late January killed three U.S. service members and injured dozens more in Jordan.
In response, the U.S. carried out a large air assault, targeting seven locations in Iraq and Syria linked to militias or the Guard’s Quds Force. There have been no attacks on U.S. troops in the region since.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stated that Israel is stepping up preparedness and broadening its operations against Hezbollah and other entities that threaten them.
According to the territory’s Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count, nearly 33,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s assault in Gaza, with around two-thirds of them being women and children.
Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks killed approximately 1,200 people and led to around 250 being taken hostage.
Hamas still holds an estimated 100 hostages and the remains of about 30 others, after most of the rest were released last year in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.
