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 error”, which “should not have happened”, declared, on Wednesday, the chief of the Israeli general staff, Herzi Halevi, referring to “a bad identification” in “very complex conditions “. On Tuesday, Israeli President Isaac Herzog presented his “apologies”. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke of a “tragic” strike.
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” on Wednesday. “I pray for them and their families,” he continued. “I renew my call 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 demand for an “immediate ceasefire “.
“Absolutely unacceptable” and “insufficient” explanations
For his part, the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, severely criticized the Israeli government. “The first statements made by Prime Minister Netanyahu on what happened in Gaza concerning the NGO of the chef [chef] José Andrés do not seem sufficient to me,” declared Mr. Sanchez, who ‘said during a press conference in Doha at the end of a tour of three countries in the region.
He said he was waiting for “a much more detailed response 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 to me absolutely unacceptable” and “insufficient,” he said, without specifying the actions that Spain could take in response to this tragedy.
Warsaw summons Israeli ambassador
For its part, the Polish Foreign Ministry “invited” 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,” said Deputy Minister Andrzej Szajna, quoted by the agency PAP. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Wednesday morning that the attack and Israel’s reactions to this strike were putting solidarity with this country “to the test.”
On Tuesday, US President Joe Biden said he was “outraged”. “Even more tragic, this is not an isolated event,” he lamented in a statement. “This conflict has been one of the worst in recent history in terms of the number of aid workers killed,” he continued, adding that such deaths should “simply not happen.”
WCK, which said it was “devastated” by the deaths of its “heroes,” published on X the names, photos and nationalities of the victims: Saifeddine Issam Ayad Abutaha, 25, Palestinian; Lalzawmi Frankcom, 43, Australian; Damian Sobol, 35, Polish; Jacob Flickinger, 33, American-Canadian, as well as John Chapman, 57, James Henderson, 33, and James Kirby, 47, British.
