Austin Expresses Outrage to Israel's Gallant after Aid Worker Deaths in Gaza

People gather around the car of the US-based aid group World Central Kitchen that was hit by an Israeli strike the previous day in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on April 2, 2024, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (Photo by AFP)

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Wednesday urged Israel to take concrete steps to protect aid workers and Palestinian civilians in Gaza "after repeated coordination failures" when he spoke with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant on Thursday, the Pentagon said.
The call for steps followed an Israeli attack that killed seven World Central Kitchen workers in Gaza this week.
"Secretary Austin expressed his outrage at the Israeli strike on a World Central Kitchen humanitarian aid convoy that killed seven aid workers, including an American citizen," a statement of the call between the two defense leaders said.
Austin also urged Gallant to conduct "a swift and transparent" investigation, to share the conclusions publicly, and to hold those responsible to account, the Pentagon said.
The bodies of six foreign aid workers killed in a series of Israeli strikes were transported out of the Gaza Strip and into Egypt on Wednesday ahead of their repatriation, Egypt's state-run Qahera TV reported.
The deadly strikes have renewed criticism of Israel’s conduct in the nearly six-monthlong war with Hamas, and highlighted the perilous conditions aid workers face in trying to deliver food to the besieged enclave, where experts say nearly a third of the population is on the brink of 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 handed over to his family for burial in Gaza.
The other bodies were driven into Egypt through the Rafah crossing.
The seven were distributing food that had been brought into Gaza through a newly established maritime corridor late Monday when Israeli airstrikes targeted their three vehicles, killing everyone inside.
Israel said it carried out the strikes by mistake and that it has launched an independent investigation into how it happened.
Some of Israel's closest allies, including the United States, condemned the deaths, which led the World Central Kitchen and other charities to suspend food deliveries, citing the dire security situation.
The hit on the charity’s convoy highlighted what critics have called Israel’s indiscriminate bombing and lack of regard for civilian casualties in Gaza.