Biden ‘outraged’ by Israeli airstrike that killed World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza

President Biden said he was “outraged and heartbroken” by the deaths of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers after Israeli airstrikes against their unarmed, marked aid convoy in the Gaza Strip.

In a Tuesday evening statement containing what might be the strongest criticism of Israel expressed over his half-century in public life, Mr Biden said incidents like the strike on the convoy by Israeli Defence Forces “should not happen” and said Israel “has not done enough” to protect civilians or aid workers during the six-month-old war against Hamas.

“This conflict has been one of the worst in recent memory in terms of how many aid workers have been killed. This is a major reason why distributing humanitarian aid in Gaza has been so difficult – because Israel has not done enough to protect aid workers trying to deliver desperately needed help to civilians,” he said.

“Israel has pledged to conduct a thorough investigation into why the aid workers’ vehicles were hit by airstrikes. That investigation must be swift, it must bring accountability, and its findings must be made public,” he added.

Mr Biden also noted that the US has “repeatedly urged Israel to deconflict their military operations against Hamas with humanitarian operations, in order to avoid civilian casualties” and said the US would “continue to do all we can to deliver humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians in Gaza, through all available means”.

He promised to “continue to press Israel to do more to facilitate that aid. And we are pushing hard for an immediate ceasefire as part of a hostage deal” and said there is a US team in Cairo for negotiations “now”.

“May God bless the humanitarian workers killed yesterday and comfort their families and loved ones