The American President demanded from the Prime Minister of Israel, during their telephone conversation yesterday, immediate answers and accountability to those who participated in the “blind” strike that took the lives of 7 members of a humanitarian organization four days ago in the Gaza Strip.
Seven workers of the US-based NGO World Central Kitchen, who had gone to distribute food to the starving population of Gaza, were killed by Israeli airstrikes.
All seven dead are foreign nationals and Joe Biden has made it clear that such actions by Israel will no longer be tolerated.
Today Israel’s military in a lengthy statement said it was a tragic incident that led to a series of fatal mistakes.
“A commander assumed, as the report states, that a gunman was inside the humanitarian organization’s cars and that he was a member of Hamas and gave the order for the strike. After the first hit there were survivors who got into a second vehicle which was also hit by Israeli fire and when that happened the workers took refuge in a third vehicle which was also hit,” says the BBC network.
The American pressures at the highest level also brought about the removal from their duties of all those involved in the bloody incident. Three officers have been relieved of their duties and are being questioned by Israeli agencies.
UN: “War crime”
The UN clarified today that this move by Israel is a war crime. Jeremy Lawrence, representative of the Commissioner for Human Rights clarified with his statements:
“Attacking people involved in humanitarian aid missions can amount to a war crime. As the commissioner has said many times, impunity must end.”
The US President also called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and an increase in humanitarian aid.
The Israeli army announced that from today the humanitarian corridor from the north of Gaza, which has been inaccessible for months, is also available.
The UN underlines that today 70% of the population of the Palestinian enclave faces extreme hunger. More than thirty children have died of starvation in recent weeks.
Source: RES-MPE
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