WASHINGTON, April 2 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday demanded that Israel launch an investigation into the attack by its military that killed seven members of a charity group delivering food into Gaza.
"We've spoken directly to the Israeli Government about this particular incident. We've urged a swift, a thorough and impartial investigation to understand exactly what happened," Blinken said, standing alongside with French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne at a joint press conference in Paris.
"And as we have throughout this conflict, we've impressed upon the Israelis the absolute imperative of doing more to protect innocent civilian lives be the Palestinian children, women and men. Already they aid workers as well as to get more humanitarian assistance to more people more effectively," Blinken said.
A convoy of World Central Kitchen (WCK), a Washington-headquartered non-profit organization that"s become a vital source of food assistance to war-torn Gaza as Israeli troops continue with the onslaught, was attacked Monday in what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged was an "unintentional strike" on "innocent people in the Gaza Strip."
In a video posted on X, the prime minister pledged that his government "will do everything so that this thing does not happen again."
Those killed in the attack were from Palestine, Britain, Poland, Australia, and also included a U.S.-Canadian dual national, according to WCK, which said in a statement that the attack led to the organization "pausing our operations immediately in the region."
Calls are mounting from various nations worldwide for Israel to conduct an investigation into the attack and prevent similar incidents from happening again.
The spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Daniel Hagari, said in a video posted on X that he had spoken with the founder of WCK, Spanish-American celebrity chef Jose Andres, to express "the IDF's deepest condolences to the entire World Central Kitchen family."
"We have been reviewing the incident in the highest levels to understand the circumstances of what happened and how it happened," Hagari said. "We will be opening a probe to examine the serious incident further. This will help us reduce the risk of such an event from occurring again." ■
