Canada, UK call for full, urgent investigation from Israel into killing of aid workers in Gaza

By Nur Asena Erturk

Canada calls for a “full investigation” from Israel into the killing of seven humanitarian aid workers in Gaza, the country's foreign minister said Wednesday.

The World Central Kitchen confirmed its humanitarian aid workers were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip. The workers were nationals of Australia, Poland, the UK, and Palestine, as well as a US-Canadian dual citizen.

Melanie Joly, in a doorstep statement at the NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels, said: “We call for a full investigation. We want to make sure that Israel does look directly into this issue."

“Israel needs to respect international humanitarian law and we will make sure that that is the case,” she stressed.

Joly expressed “concerns of escalation” in the Middle East, saying: “That is why the violence must stop. We need to make sure also that we work with different partners on keeping the region much more stable.”

Canada called for a cease-fire in December, and noted that humanitarian aid needs to go into Gaza, the minister recalled.

Despite coordinating movements with the Israeli army, the World Central Kitchen said the convoy was hit as it was leaving a warehouse in the southern Gaza city of Deir al-Balah, where the team had unloaded more than 100 tons of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza. The NGO has since paused its operations in the region.

- UK awaits 'full, urgent' inquiry into Israeli attack

Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Cameron, for his part, recalled that three British citizens were also killed in the Israeli strike.

“I welcome what the Israeli foreign minister (Israel Katz) said yesterday to me about a full, urgent, and transparent inquiry into how this dreadful event was allowed to happen. And we want to see that happen very, very quickly,” Cameron said.

He emphasized more aid getting into Gaza. “We've been promised these things before and this really needs to happen, including longer opening times at the vital crossing points.”

Cameron ensured that “Britain will be watching very closely to make sure that that happens,” and noted that “proper deconfliction” is a must to make sure extra aid reaches the population in need.

Israel has waged a military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas which killed around 1,200 people.

At least 32,916 Palestinians have since been killed besides causing mass destruction and displacement.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which last week asked it to do more to prevent famine in Gaza. The ICJ said “Palestinians in Gaza are no longer facing only a risk of famine ... but that famine is setting in.”