UK, Canada demand probe into killing of Gaza aid workers

London/BRUSSELS, April 3

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke to his

Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu to demand a “thorough and transparent” investigation into the circumstances around the killing of three British aid workers, the latest victims of the raging Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza.

Canada’s Foreign Affairs minister Melanie Joly also called on for a full investigation into the killing.

Bodies of workers taken out of Gaza

• The bodies of foreign aid workers killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza were brought to the crossing with Egypt on Wednesday as international outrage simmered over an attack that highlighted the dangers faced by humanitarian staff in the enclave
• The strike late on Monday night hit a convoy of three vehicles and killed seven staff of the aid group World Central Kitchen (WCK), including citizens of Australia, Britain, and Poland, a dual citizen of the US and Canada
• The bodies of the foreign aid workers were handed over to UN officials at the Egyptian border Gaza hospital patients will die if not evacuated, warns WHO Chief

According to a Downing Street statement on Tuesday, Sunak told the Israeli leader that the situation in the region is becoming “increasingly intolerable” as he stressed immediate action to ensure better aid flow into Gaza.

“He (Sunak) said he was appalled by the killing of aid workers, including three British nationals, in an airstrike in Gaza yesterday [Monday] and demanded a thorough and transparent independent investigation into what happened,” said the Downing Street readout of the call between Sunak and Netanyahu.

In Toronto, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said officials had spoken to Israeli ambassador Iddo Moed to express “our dismay at the unacceptable deaths of a Canadian-American aid worker along with others … the world needs very clear answers as to how this happened”. — Reuters

Incident should not affect truce talks: US

Washington: The United States does not expect the Israeli strike that killed seven World Central Kitchen workers in Gaza to affect talks on an Israel-Hamas ceasefire and the release of hostages and Palestinian prisoners, White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters in a briefing on Wednesday.