The incident took place as the aid workers were travelling through a “deconflicted zone” in armoured cars carrying the group’s logo. The founder of the charity, Jose Andres, said the group was “systematically” targeted “car by car.”
Three British citizens, one Polish national and one Palestinian were also killed in the attack, which Israel’s top military commander said had been a “mistake” and the result of a “misidentification”.
People inspect the site where World Central Kitchen workers were killed in Deir al-Balah.Credit: AP
Biden is said to have been privately enraged by the incident and issued a public statement overnight taking aim at Israel’s military tactics in a conflict that has killed nearly 200 aid workers so far.
“This is not a standalone incident,” he said, in his strongest statement yet against the Netanyahu government’s operations.
“The conflict has been one of the worst in recent memory in terms of how many aid workers have been killed. 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.”
However, despite calling for “accountability” and demanding more humanitarian assistance into Gaza, the administration says it has no plans, at this stage, to change its policy towards Israel.
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Since the war began on October 7, the US has reportedly approved and delivered more than 100 separate foreign military sales to Israel amounting to thousands of precision-guided munitions, small-diameter bombs, bunker busters, small arms and other lethal aid.
One option for the US to apply pressure is to use the supply of bombs and jets the US supplies to Israel as leverage for Netanyahu to scale back its military assault in the Gaza Strip.
However, the White House says it is waiting for Israel’s full investigation before it decides what action, if any, to take in response to the tragedy. It has also ruled out conducting an investigation of its own to determine if US weapons contributed to the attack.
But as casualties mount, so too does the political pressure ahead of November’s election.
At the Democratic primaries in Wisconsin on Tuesday night, Biden faced another protest vote over his support for Israel, with more than 47,000 voters choosing the “uninstructed” option on their ballot papers instead of picking the president as their preferred presidential nominee.
A volunteer holds a sign outside a polling station at Oakman School in Dearborn, Michigan.Credit: Bloomberg
While this was not as resounding as the 100,000-plus voters who voted “uncommitted” in the Michigan primary race earlier this year, it was nonetheless viewed as a warning sign in a critical battleground state Biden only narrowly won against Donald Trump in 2020.
“This president must decide if loyalty to Netanyahu is worth delivering Trump the election in November,” said Democrat lobbyist and former Ohio Senator Nina Turner.
David Axelrod, a former policy advisor to Barack Obama, said: “the murder of seven heroic World Central Kitchen workers should be a bright red line”.
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“Israel has the right to defend itself against barbaric acts of terrorism, not indiscriminately kills innocents of valiant men and women who are working to save them from starvation,” he wrote on X.
And at a meeting between Biden and Muslim community leaders at the White House on Tuesday, one Palestinian American doctor, Thaer Ahmad, walked out in protest over the administration’s stance in Gaza.