Israel under scrutiny following airstrike which killed seven aid workers

International bodies and various nations have scrutinized Israel for the deaths of 7 aid workers, killed during an IDF airstrike in Gaza. The seven aid workers included six foreign nationals and one Palestinian.

The aid workers were working through a charity by the name of World Central Kitchen (WCK), the founder of which has accused Israel of targeting aid workers systematically, which has caused an uproar all over the world.

Prime Minister Netanyahu weighed in on the matter, stating that these kinds of incidents do occur in the middle of protracted conflicts such as the one in Gaza since the situation can often be chaotic. Having said that, he did mention that a thorough inquiry into the incident is underway and that the authorities are looking to ensure that such a situation does not arise again.

The Head of the Israeli Defense Force admitted that the incident occurred due to the misidentification of a target as they were dealing with very difficult circumstance at that point of time. He did admit that this was a serious error on the part of the military, which sadly led to the deaths of the aid workers.

This incident has led to aid organisations reassessing their positions and operations in war torn Gaza. Most programs have been put on hold as the viability of conducting them in the face of serious security threats is unclear as of now.

The strike affected British, Palestinian, Polish, Australian and American-Canadian nationals, which has brought the reality of the ongoing in Gaza closer to home for many nations that have till now acted as mere observers.

Many nations and international aid organisations are incensed by this incident and the leaders of the UK, US, Canada and Australia have voiced their concerns in a very direct and vocal manner.

Egypt will act as a conduit for sending the bodies of these aid workers to their countries of origin, acting as a safe zone from which this transfer can be carried out.

Israel’s Minister of the Economy rubbished the idea that this airstrike was intentional, telling the BBC that there is no merit to rumors suggesting that Israel would conduct such an operation on purpose.

Since many organisations offering aid in Gaza have put a stop to their operations in the region, the people of the war-torn region have been put at even greater risk of starvation.

The United Nations programs in Gaza have also been put on hold as the international body assesses the security situation on the ground.

John Chapman, James Henderson and James Kirby, three of the victims who are British nationals, were working for the aid organisation as security advisors, ensuring that the convoy did not stray from the agreed upon route and reached it destination safely.

Their death has affected the United Kingdom to the point where weapons sails made to Israel previously are being scrutinized by many observers as well as some sections of the general public.

One of the more disturbing pieces of information coming out is that José Andrés, the founder of World Central Kitchen, said that it is his firm belief that the attack was not an accident.

Barkat responded to this quite succinctly, stating the following, “With all due respect, there’s no way in the world that Israel would target people that come to give people aid. That’s nonsense. I’m sorry, give us a bit of a respect that we care about those people.”

“The Israeli army will interrogate this and give the families of the people who were killed all the details. We want to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

“I’ll tell you what is intentional. On 7 October, they [Hamas and other groups] entered the villages in Israel, they raped women and killed them while they’re raping them.”