US wants swift investigation into Israeli attack on aid workers

By Humeyra Pamuk and Daphne Psaldakis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States wants to see a swift Israeli investigation into an attack that killed seven people working for celebrity chef Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen charity in Gaza, the State Department said on Wednesday.

Israel needs to take better conflict and coordination measures to protect humanitarian workers and all civilians on the ground, spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters at a regular news briefing.

“It doesn’t really matter how they made the mistake. At the end of the day, you have seven dead aid workers who were out there trying to deliver humanitarian aid. So whatever the cause of this tragedy, whatever the mistake What happened inside the IDF is unacceptable, and they need to do better,” Miller said.

Aid workers were killed when their convoy was attacked shortly after overseeing the unloading of 100 tons of food brought into Gaza by sea.

Israel’s military expressed “deep sorrow” over the incident and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described it as unintentional. The army has said an independent, professional expert body will investigate the deaths.

Andres told Reuters on Wednesday that aid workers were killed in the Israeli attack and that they were targeted “systematically, car by car.”

Andres said the charity had clear communications with the Israeli military, which he said was aware of the activities of their aid workers.

Miller also said the attack that killed the aid workers would not affect US efforts to build a floating pier that would allow aid to reach Gaza by sea.

The United Nations says nearly six months of war has created severe food shortages among Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians, now exceeding famine levels in some areas.

(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk, Ismail Shakeel and Daphne Psaldakis; Editing by Chris Reese and Alison Williams)

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