JAKARTA - The White House urged Israeli authorities to conduct an investigation into the deaths of seven humanitarian aid workers as a result of their airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, Palestine.
A spokesman for the National Security Council wrote on social media that the White House was "deeply disturbed" by the attack that killed at least seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers in Gaza.
"We are heartbroken and deeply disturbed by the attack that killed aid workers @WCKitchen in Gaza," National Security Council spokesman Adrienne Watson said in a post on Twitter on Monday evening.
"Humani aid workers must be protected because they provide the much-needed assistance, and we urge Israel to immediately investigate what is happening," he continued.
As previously reported, Israeli airstrikes killed at least seven aid workers from a team delivering food to civilians in Gaza, according to WCK and authorities in the enclave.
"They traveled in two armored cars bearing the WCK logo and other vehicles," WCK said in a statement.
Although its movement was coordinated with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the convoy was attacked while leaving Deir al-Balah's warehouse, after lowering more than 100 tonnes of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza by sea, the WCK said.
"This is not just an attack on the WCK, this is an attack on a humanitarian organization that appears in the most dire situation where food is used as a weapons of war," Erin Gore, chief executive of World Central Kitchen, told Reuters.
Those killed included a US-Canadian dual national, as well as people from Australia, Poland, England and a Palestinian, according to the non-profit organization.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said it was conducting a thorough review at the highest level to understand the circumstances it called tragic incidents.
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"IDF is making extensive efforts to enable the delivery of safe humanitarian aid, and has cooperated with WCK in their important efforts to provide food and humanitarian assistance to the Gaza community," the IDF said.
Separately, the militant group Hamas said in a statement that the attack was aimed at terrorizing workers of international humanitarian agencies, thus preventing them from carrying out their mission.
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