The bodies of six foreign workers from the humanitarian NGO World Central Kitchen (WCK) killed on Monday in an Israeli bombing arrived in Egypt on Wednesday, April 3, to be repatriated to their respective countries. The strike, which sparked a wave of international criticism, comes after nearly six months of a devastating war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
It is “a serious mistake”Who “shouldn’t have happened”declared Wednesday the chief of the Israeli general staff, Herzi Halevi, referring to “bad identification” in “very complex conditions”. On Tuesday, Israeli President Isaac Herzog presented his “apologies”. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke of a strike “tragic”.
Several countries and organizations, including the UN, which denounced a “disregard for international humanitarian law”, condemned this act. At the end of his weekly general audience at the Vatican, Pope Francis expressed his “deep sadness”. “I pray for them and their families,” he continued. “I renew my appeal for the exhausted and suffering civilian population to be able to access humanitarian aid and for the hostages to be released immediately”he added, also reiterating his request for a “immediate ceasefire”.
“Absolutely unacceptable” and “insufficient” explanations
For his part, the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, severely criticized the Israeli government. “Prime Minister Netanyahu’s first statements on what happened in Gaza regarding the leader’s NGO [de cuisine] José Andrés does not seem sufficient to me”said Mr. Sanchez, who was speaking at a press conference in Doha at the end of a tour of three countries in the region.
He said wait “a much more detailed answer to the causes, the reasons for this bombing, taking into account the fact (…) that the Israeli government knew the activity and the itinerary of this NGO on the ground in Gaza”. Mr. Netanyahu’s explanations “seem absolutely unacceptable to me” And “insufficient”he said, without specifying the actions that Spain could take in reaction to this tragedy.
Warsaw summons Israeli ambassador
For its part, the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs ” guest “ the Israeli Ambassador to Warsaw to discuss “moral, political and financial responsibility”. A Polish national died during the bombing. “The situation is extremely difficult, both regarding the death of our citizen and regarding our relations or humanitarian aid to Palestine”, declared the deputy minister, Andrzej Szajna, quoted by the PAP agency. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Wednesday morning that the attack as well as Israel’s reactions to this strike demonstrated solidarity with this country. “put to the test”.
On Tuesday, US President Joe Biden said he “outraged”. “Even more tragic, this is not an isolated event”he lamented in a press release. “This conflict was one of the worst in recent history in terms of the number of aid workers killed”he continued, adding that such deaths should not “just not happening”.
WCK, who said “annihilated” by the death of his “hero”, published on X the names, photos and nationalities of the victims: Saifeddine Issam Ayad Abutaha, 25 years old, Palestinian; Lalzawmi Frankcom, 43, Australian; Damian Sobol, 35 years old, Polish; Jacob Flickinger, 33, American-Canadian, as well as John Chapman, 57, James Henderson, 33, and James Kirby, 47, British.