UPDATE - UK calls on Israel to provide 'full, transparent explanation' on killings of aid workers in Gaza

Foreign Secretary David Cameron says aid workers were 'working to deliver life-saving aid to those who desperately need it'

ADDS CAMERON'S PHONE CALL WITH ISRAELI COUNTERPART

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal and Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - Britain urged Israel on Tuesday to "immediately investigate and provide a full, transparent explanation of what happened" in the incident that killed seven aid workers in the Gaza Strip.

"The news of the airstrike that killed World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers in Gaza is deeply distressing," Foreign Secretary David Cameron wrote on X.

"British Nationals are reported to have been killed, we are urgently working to verify this information and will provide full support to their families," he added.

Cameron said the aid workers "were people who were working to deliver life-saving aid to those who desperately need it."

"It is essential that humanitarian workers are protected and able to carry out their work."

"We have called on Israel to immediately investigate and provide a full, transparent explanation of what happened," he added.

Separately, Cameron held a phone call with his Israeli counterpart Israel Katz to underline that the killing of the WCK aid workers is "completely unacceptable."

"Israel must urgently explain how this happened and make major changes to ensure the safety of aid workers on the ground," he said.

World Central Kitchen confirmed Tuesday that seven of its humanitarian aid workers were killed in Monday's Israeli strike in the Gaza Strip.

"The WCK team was traveling in a deconflicted zone in two armored cars branded with the WCK logo and a soft skin vehicle," it said in a statement.

Despite coordinating movements with the Israeli army, it said the convoy was hit as it was leaving a warehouse in Deir al-Balah, where the team had unloaded more than 100 tons of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza on a maritime route.

"This is not only an attack against WCK, this is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the most dire of situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable," said WCK CEO Erin Gore.

The seven killed are from Australia, Poland, the UK, a dual citizen of the US and Canada, and Palestine.

Later, it was confirmed that three of the seven aid workers killed by the Israeli airstrike were UK citizens.

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