No separate US investigation of Israeli's killing of food aid workers in Gaza: White House

By Servet Gunerigok

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US is not planning to carry out an independent probe into Israel’s killing this week of seven food aid workers in Gaza, the White House said.

"There are no plans for the US to conduct an independent investigation or a separate investigation into this event," National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby said during a webinar of the killing, which has drawn widespread international outrage.

He said that in a phone call, President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the findings of Tel Aviv's investigation in the attack on Monday that killed seven members of the aid group World Central Kitchen.

Kirby also said White House is reviewing Israel's report and "we're going to take our time we're going to review it carefully.” He added: "We'll certainly be discussing the conclusions of it and our conclusions of it with Israeli officials and humanitarian aid organizations in coming days.”

Earlier, World Central Kitchen demanded the creation of an independent commission to investigate the killings of its aid workers, saying the Israeli army "cannot credibly investigate its own failure in Gaza.”

The April 1 attack killed seven aid workers – three British nationals, an Australian, a Polish national, a US-Canadian dual citizen, and a Palestinian.

According to the UN, 196 humanitarian aid workers, including over 175 UN staff members, have been killed in Gaza since last Oct. 7.

Israel has killed more than 33,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 attack by Palestinian group Hamas which claimed 1,200 lives.

A crippling blockade by Israel has also left Gaza desperately short of basic supplies, leaving most of the population of over 2 million facing famine conditions while making the delivery of aid supplies more and more difficult.