An Australian aid worker has been killed in an Israeli air strike in central Gaza, according to Palestinian medical officials.
Gaza medical officials said an air strike killed four international aid workers with the World Central Kitchen charity and their Palestinian driver after they helped deliver food and other supplies to northern Gaza that had arrived hours early by ship.
Footage posted to social media showed the bodies of the five dead at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah. Several of them wore protective gear with the charity’s logo. Staff showed the passports of three of the dead – British, Australian and Polish. The nationality of the fourth aid worker is not currently known.
The workers’ car was hit by an Israeli strike just after crossing from northern Gaza after helping deliver aid that had arrived hours earlier on a ship from Cyprus, Mahmoud Thabet, a paramedic from the Palestinian Red Crescent who was on the team that brought the bodies to the hospital, told The Associated Press.
“Following the reports regarding the World Central Kitchen personnel in Gaza today, the IDF is conducting a thorough review at the highest levels to understand the circumstances of this tragic incident,” the IDF said in a statement.
“The IDF makes extensive efforts to enable the safe delivery of humanitarian aid, and has been working closely with WCK in their vital efforts to provide food and humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that DFAT was “urgently investigating” the reports.
“I’m very concerned about the loss of life that is occurring in Gaza,” he said.
“My Government has supported a sustainable ceasefire, we’ve called for the release of hostages, and there have been far too many innocent lives – Palestinian and Israeli – lost during the Gaza Hamas conflict.”
World Central Kitchen said they were aware of the reports that members of their organisation had been killed “while working to support our humanitarian food delivery efforts in Gaza”.
“This is a tragedy. Humanitarian aid workers and civilians should NEVER be a target. EVER,” an X post from the organisation said.
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AP/ABC