President Joe Biden said Tuesday that he’s “outraged and heartbroken” over the deaths of World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza who were killed by an Israeli airstrike this week.
“They were providing food to hungry civilians in the middle of a war,” Biden said, of the seven slain humanitarian workers. “They were brave and selfless.”
Biden called out Israel for failing to “protect aid workers trying to deliver desperately needed help to civilians” and demanded that the results of Israel’s investigation into the deaths be made public.
“Incidents like yesterday’s simply should not happen,” Biden continued. “Israel has also not done enough to protect civilians. The United States has repeatedly urged Israel to deconflict their military operations against Hamas with humanitarian operations, in order to avoid civilian casualties.”
Biden vowed to keep up the the United States’ efforts to send aid to Palestinians in Gaza and said he will “continue to press Israel to do more to facilitate that aid.”
The aid workers with World Central Kitchen, a humanitarian food assistance organization founded by renowned chef José Andrés, were traveling in a convoy of three cars on Monday evening when they were attacked. Two of the three vehicles had the charity’s logo on their roofs so Israeli forces would know not to strike them. In a statement, the organization noted the convoy was traveling in a so-called deconflicted zone and that the group had been coordinating its movements with the Israeli military.
World Central Kitchen and several other nonprofit operations working in Gaza have since suspended operations there out of concern for worker safety.
The comments from Biden, whose administration has sold hundreds of millions of dollars worth of weapons to Israel in recent months, come as U.S. government humanitarian experts privately warn that famine is likely already occurring in parts of Gaza.