UK summons Israeli envoy over killing of food charity workers in Gaza

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - The British Foreign Office on Tuesday summoned Israeli Ambassador Tzipi Hotovely over the killing of aid workers in the Gaza Strip

"I set out the Government’s unequivocal condemnation of the appalling killing of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers, including three British Nationals," Andrew Mitchell, the minister for development and Africa, said in a statement.

Mitchell said he requested a "quick and transparent investigation, shared with the international community, and full accountability.”

"I reiterated the need for Israel to put in place an effective deconfliction mechanism immediately and urgently to scale up humanitarian access," Mitchell said.

He added: "We need to see an immediate humanitarian pause, to get aid in and the hostages out, then progress towards a sustainable ceasefire."

Earlier Tuesday, World Central Kitchen said seven of its humanitarian aid workers were killed in Monday's Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip.

The seven workers for the US-based group who were killed on Monday were nationals of Australia, Poland, the UK, and Palestine, as well as a US-Canadian dual citizen.

After the "targeted attack," the group said it was pausing operations in the region.

In addition to killing some 33,000 people since Oct. 7, the Israel offensive and siege of the strip has been blamed for near-famine conditions among over 2 million Palestinians there, and for attacks killing both aid workers and civilians seeking humanitarian aid.