Joe Biden expresses outrage over deaths of World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden expressed outrage Tuesday over the deaths of seven humanitarian aid workers, including one American, for the nonprofit group World Central Kitchen who were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza.

"They were providing food to hungry civilians in the middle of a war," Biden said in a statement. "They were brave and selfless. Their deaths are a tragedy."

Biden called chef José Andrés, who founded the organization in 2010, to express his condolences. The president said he is heartbroken over the workers' deaths and applauded the group's "relentless and heroic efforts to get food to hungry people around the globe."

Israel has pledged to conduct a thorough investigation into why the aid workers’ vehicles were hit by airstrikes. "That investigation must be swift, it must bring accountability and its findings must be made public," Biden said.

The seven workers were killed Monday after their convoy was hit as it was leaving the Deir al-Balah warehouse, where it had unloaded more than 100 tons of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza by sea, the group said.

The group said it had coordinated its movements with the Israeli military and that workers had been traveling in two armored cars bearing the World Central Kitchen logo. Those killed included Jacob Flickinger, 33, a dual U.S. and Canadian citizen.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the airstrike that killed the workers was unintended and "tragic.”

At the White House, John Kirby, the Biden administration's spokesman on national security issues, said there is no evidence the Israelis knew they were targeting humanitarian workers. The workers' deaths are "emblematic of a larger problem and evidence of why distribution of aid in Gaza has been so challenging," he said.

More than 200 humanitarian workers have been killed since the Israel-Hamas war started last Oct. 7, Kirby said.

In his statement, Biden said the workers' deaths are even more tragic because they were not the result of a standalone incident.

"This conflict has been one of the worst in recent memory in terms of how many aid workers have been killed," he said. "This is a major reason why distributing humanitarian aid in Gaza has been so difficult – because Israel has not done enough to protect aid workers trying to deliver desperately needed help to civilians."

Biden said Israel also has 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," he said.The World Central Kitchen announced it is pausing its operations in Gaza after the deaths of its seven workers.

Biden said Tuesday the United States would continue to do all it can to deliver humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians in Gaza, "through all available means." The president vowed to press Israel to do more to facilitate that aid and said his administration is pushing hard for an immediate ceasefire as part of a hostage-release deal.

"I have a team in Cairo working on this right now," he said.

Contributing: Reuters

Michael Collins covers the White House. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @mcollinsNEWS.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden offers condolences over death of World Central Kitchen workers