The bodies of six foreign aid workers killed in an Israeli strike arrived in Egypt on Wednesday for repatriation to their respective countries, with Israel calling the strike a “serious mistake.”
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, sparked by the Palestinian Islamist movement’s unprecedented attack in Israel on October 7. .
She killed seven members of World Central Kitchen (WCK, based in the United States) on Monday in Deir al-Balah (center) who had just unloaded “more than 100 tons of food brought to Gaza by sea,” according to the NGO. .
The remains of the six Westerners (an Australian, a Pole, an American-Canadian and three British), who were killed with a Palestinian humanitarian, arrived in Egypt on Wednesday evening, Egyptian security sources announced. They were handed over to representatives of their countries for repatriation.
It is “a serious error” which “should not have happened”, declared the chief of the Israeli general staff Herzi Halevi, referring to “a bad identification” in “very complex conditions”.
The day before, Israeli President Isaac Herzog presented his “apologies”, his Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referring to a “tragic” strike.
WCK announced that it would suspend its operations in the region.
“Anger and concern”
The NGO which said it was “devastated” by the death of its collaborators had, since October 7, provided meals in the Palestinian territory, where the majority of some 2.4 million inhabitants are threatened with famine according to the ‘UN. In mid-March, she participated in sending the first aid boat to Gaza from Cyprus.
On Wednesday, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese expressed his “anger and concern” to his Israeli counterpart, Poland having announced to summon the Israeli ambassador to discuss Israel’s “moral, political and financial responsibility”.
The day before, the United Kingdom had announced that it would summon the Israeli ambassador to express its “unequivocal condemnation” of the Israeli strike.
Raising its tone a little more, Spain denounced on Wednesday an “insufficient” and “unacceptable” Israeli response.
The UN, for its part, denounced a “contempt for international humanitarian law” and its workers, American President Joe Biden said he was “outraged”, believing that Israel does not “enough” protect people coming to the aid of the “starving” Palestinian population.
Since the start of the war, several NGOs present in Gaza have claimed that their employees or sites had been hit by Israeli strikes.
“We suffer”
On October 7, Hamas commandos infiltrated from Gaza carried out an attack in southern Israel which resulted in the death of at least 1,160 people, mainly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data. According to Israel, around 250 people were kidnapped and 130 of them are still hostages, including 34 who died in Gaza.
In retaliation, Israel set itself the goal of annihilating Hamas and launched a campaign of intense aerial bombardment on the Gaza Strip, followed by a ground offensive that allowed its soldiers to advance from the north to the south of the Gaza Strip. small strip of land.
At least 32,975 people, mostly civilians, were killed in Israeli operations, the Hamas Health Ministry announced on Wednesday, reporting 59 deaths in 24 hours.
In addition to the human toll and destruction, the war has caused a humanitarian catastrophe in the besieged territory where humanitarian aid, strictly controlled by Israel, is arriving in trickles.
A maritime corridor as well as aid airdrops have been set up due to the difficulty of bringing in food by land, but many countries and humanitarian organizations consider that the land route is best suited to allow delivery. of the enormous help that the population needs.
In Gaza, AFP images show cohorts of men walking through the rubble along a rocky road where gutted buildings and closed stores follow one another.
“We are suffering to bring back flour and feed our young children,” a man told AFPTV in Gaza City, where he has just received food aid.
“Plausible risk of genocide”
In this context, the UN Human Rights Council will examine on Friday a draft resolution condemning “Israel’s use of explosive weapons with a wide range of action” in populated areas of Gaza and calling for a arms embargo on Israel. The text evokes “the plausible risk of a genocide in Gaza”.
After a vast two-week operation in the al-Chifa hospital complex in Gaza City, the Israeli army indicated on Tuesday that it was continuing its operations in the city of Khan Younes (south), particularly in the area of the Al hospital. -Amal, which had to cease its activities a week ago due to Israeli operations.
It accuses hospitals of housing bases for Hamas, considered a terrorist group by Israel, the United States and the European Union.
In Al-Amal, she said in particular that she had “killed and arrested a certain number of terrorists”. “Numerous weapons” were also discovered.
Tuesday evening and for the fourth consecutive evening, families of hostages and opponents of Mr. Netanyahu’s government gathered in front of Parliament to shout their anger and demand the resignation of the Prime Minister.