April 2, 2024 - Israel-Hamas war

Our live coverage of Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza has moved here.

The family of an Australian aid worker killed in Gaza says she leaves a “legacy of compassion, bravery and love for all those in her orbit.”

A statement issued by Zomi Frankcom’s family said they are “deeply mourning the news that our brave and beloved Zomi has been killed doing the work she loves delivering food to the people of Gaza.

“She was a kind, selfless and outstanding human being that has traveled the world helping others in their time of need. She will leave behind a legacy of compassion, bravery and love for all those in her orbit,” the Frankcom family said in a statement to CNN affiliate Channel 9.

It added that the family was “still reeling from the shock” and has asked for “privacy during this difficult time”.

Foreign nationals were among the seven aid workers from the non-profit World Central Kitchen killed in an Israeli military strike on Tuesday as they were delivering food to starving civilians in Gaza.

Speaking to reporters during a press conference in Canberra on Wednesday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called for full accountability for the deaths and said the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was working to have her body returned to Australia.

“This is someone who volunteered in Australia to help people during the bushfires… (and) was volunteering overseas to provide aid through this charity for people who are suffering tremendous deprivation in Gaza,” Albanese said of Zomi.

An Israeli strike in Gaza that killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers has touched off fury and indignation inside the White House, prompting President Joe Biden on Tuesday to release a public statement using a word he has rarely invoked over the course of the tragedy-ridden conflict: “Outraged.”

The deaths of the workers who were delivering food to starving civilians in the besieged enclave — including one dual US-Canadian citizen – has frustrated Biden and his top officials to a new level, a senior administration official told CNN. 

The strike has been a “standout incident” as far as the White House is concerned, the official said, prompting serious consternation and concern in what had already been a moment of high tensions between the US and Israel. 

The president discussed the deaths of the workers with a small group of Muslim community leaders at the White House Tuesday, according to one of the attendees. Some of the participants were doctors who had spent time in Gaza and had seen first-hand the plight of the Palestinian civilians there. One of them, CNN reported, walked out of the meeting early in a show of protest.

“The president expressed that this is a very difficult situation and that he would like to see an end to this war,” said Salima Suswell, founder of the Black Muslim Leadership Council. “The conversation was difficult at moments.”

Asked about Biden blaming Israel for failing to protect civilians and aid workers in his statement, a senior adviser to the president told CNN: “It’s what he wanted to say.”

A spokesperson for Israel’s prime minister said Tuesday that the country takes responsibility for its mistakes, referring to the killing of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in central Gaza.

Tal Heinrich noted that Israel is still waiting for the findings of an investigation into the killings.

“When Israel makes mistakes, even the most tragic ones to admit, we take responsibility,” he told CNN’s Erin Burnett.
“We admit to the most painful incidents, so we tell the truth, even when it’s the most inconvenient thing to stay,” Heinrich added.

Israel Defense Force’s chief of staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi apologized Tuesday for the airstrikes that killed seven aid workers in Gaza, calling it “a mistake that followed a misidentification.” He said the fatal incident is being investigated.

US President Joe Biden said he was “outraged and heartbroken” by the killings of the humanitarian aid workers, adding that Israel has “not done enough to protect civilians.”

The charity, World Central Kitchen, on Tuesday shared the identities of those who were killed: John Chapman, 57; James (Jim) Henderson, 33; James Kirby, 47; Jacob Flickinger, 33; Damian Sobol; Lalzawmi (Zomi) Frankcom and Saifeddin Issam.

Here are other headlines you should know:

US President Joe Biden said he is “outraged and heartbroken” after an Israeli air strike in Gaza killed seven aid workers Monday. He admitted the strike was “not a stand-alone incident” and that Israel has “not done enough to protect civilians.”

“They were providing food to hungry civilians in the middle of a war,” Biden wrote in a statement Tuesday. “They were brave and selfless. Their deaths are a tragedy.”

He wrote that Israel had “pledged to conduct a thorough investigation” into the incident, but that the “investigation must be swift, it must bring accountability, and its findings must be made public.”

“Even more tragically, this is not a stand-alone incident,” Biden wrote. “This conflict has been one of the worst in recent memory in terms of how many aid workers have been killed. This is a major reason why distributing humanitarian aid in Gaza has been so difficult – because Israel has not done enough to protect aid workers trying to deliver desperately needed help to civilians.”

He said that incidents like this “simply should not happen,” and that “Israel has also not done enough to protect civilians.”

The World Central Kitchen (WCK) shared the identities of the seven aid workers who were killed by an Israeli strike in central Gaza on Monday.

In a post on X on Tuesday, the aid group revealed the victims to be:

“These are the heroes of WCK. These 7 beautiful souls were killed by the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) in a strike as they were returning from a full day’s mission. Their smiles, laughter, and voices are forever embedded in our memories,” WCK quoted CEO Erin Gore.

The IDF said the incident is being investigated and that the strike was a “grave mistake” and that it did not intend to harm the aid workers.

A Palestinian-American doctor walked out of a meeting with US President Joe Biden before it was over Tuesday evening, underscoring the high tensions, anger and concern from Arab, Palestinian and Muslim-American communities around the Israel-Hamas war. 

Dr. Thaer Ahmad, an emergency physician from Chicago who traveled to Gaza earlier this year, told CNN he abruptly left the meeting that included Vice President Kamala Harris, national security adviser Jake Sullivan, other administration officials and a small group of Muslim community leaders.  

Following the meeting, a White House official said in a statement that the president and vice president “know this is a deeply painful moment for many in the Muslim and Arab communities.”

Biden, the official said, expressed commitment “to continue working to secure an immediate ceasefire as part of a deal to free the hostages and significantly increase humanitarian aid into Gaza.”

Ahmad traveled to Gaza as part of a delegation of doctors from the NGO MedGlobal, working in the city of Khan Younis as fighting raged around the Al Nasser hospital. He discussed his experience there, citing massive numbers of displaced, injured and dying people, and he spoke out against an expected Israeli offensive in Rafah.

“I said it was disappointing I’m the only Palestinian here, and out of respect for my community, I’m going to leave,” Ahmad said he told the president.  

Before he left, he handed Biden a letter from an 8-year-old orphaned girl, Hadeel, who lives in Rafah.  

“I beg you, President Biden, stop them from entering Rafah,” a translation of the letter shared with CNN says. Hadeel is referring to Israel’s declared plan to enter the southern Gaza city, which the US has said Israel should not do without a comprehensive plan to protect civilian lives.

Biden told him he understood that he needed to leave, Ahmad said. 

CNN previously reported that what was supposed to be an iftar dinner to break the Ramadan fast was changed to a meeting because participants didn’t feel comfortable having a celebratory meal while hundreds of thousands in Gaza are on the brink of famine.

The post was updated with comments from a White House official. 

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he had a “reasonably long” phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu early Wednesday.

It’s the first time the leaders had spoken since seven aid workers, including one Australian national, were killed in an Israel Defense Forces strike on Tuesday.

The IDF said the strike was a “mistake that followed a misidentification,” did not intend to harm the aid workers and was a “grave mistake.”

Albanese said Netanyahu expressed his condolences for the death of Australian citizen Zomi Frankcom and “committed to full transparency” over Israel’s investigation into the incident.

Separately, he said Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong has spoken to her Israeli counterpart and expressed that Australians were “outraged” about the incident.

In a statement Tuesday, Wong said the “death of any aid worker is outrageous and unacceptable.” 

The government calls for a “thorough and expeditious review,” she said.

“We expect full accountability for these deaths,” she added.

American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA) workers inside Gaza fear they will be targeted following the deadly Israeli strike on World Central Kitchen workers on Monday, according to Palestine Country Director Sandra Rasheed.

“Our team on the ground is for first time since this all started is really quite worried and scared about them being targeted,” Rasheed told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday.

Based on images, she said she believes the convoy was a targeted attack by Israel. 

“If you look at the images and you look at what happened on the ground, the vehicles were hit three different times. Very direct, targeted hits. It’s clear that this was a targeted attack. If it wasn’t going to be targeted, I don’t think it would’ve been hit three times,” she said.

ANERA joined WCK in suspending its operations in Gaza after the aid workers were killed Monday. Rasheed said the groups worked together daily, providing over a million meals a week inside Gaza, without which there would be a “deep impact” on Palestinian civilians.

“The humanitarian conditions on the ground are going to be even more difficult,” she warned.

Israel’s response: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Israeli forces “unintentionally struck innocent people in the Gaza Strip,” and that the incident is being “thoroughly” investigated. 

The Israel Defense Force’s chief of staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said in a video statement Tuesday that the strike was “a mistake that followed a misidentification” and that the strike was not carried out to harm the aid workers.

The Israeli military’s top general apologized for an Israeli strike on a World Central Kitchen convoy that killed seven aid workers, calling it “a mistake that followed a misidentification.”

Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said in a video statement Tuesday that the military completed a preliminary debrief and determined it did not intend to kill the aid workers.

“I want to be very clear—the strike was not carried out with the intention of harming WCK aid workers. It was a mistake that followed a misidentification – at night during a war in very complex conditions. It shouldn’t have happened,” Halevi said.
“We are sorry for the unintentional harm to the members of WCK. We share in the grief of their families, as well as the entire World Central Kitchen organization, from the bottom of our hearts,” Halevi added.

He called the strike “a grave mistake,” and vowed that the Israel Defense Forces “will continue taking immediate actions to ensure that more is done to protect humanitarian aid workers.

“This incident was a grave mistake. Israel is at war with Hamas, not with the people of Gaza,” Halevi added.

The United States conducted another airdrop of food into Northern Gaza on Tuesday, US Central Command said.

“U.S. C-130s dropped over 50,680 U.S. meal equivalents into Northern Gaza, an area of great need, allowing for civilian access to the critical aid,” it said in a statement.

Remember: Human rights groups have repeatedly criticized airdrops as an inefficient and degrading way of getting aid to Gazans, instead urging Israeli authorities to lift controls on land crossings into the enclave.

Just last week at least 12 Palestinians drowned off the northern Gaza coast near Beit Lahia on Monday while trying to reach airdropped parcels that had landed in the sea, according to local paramedics. And last month, at least five people were killed and 10 others injured when airdropped aid packages fell on them in Al Shati camp west of Gaza City, according to a journalist on the scene.

The Palestinian Authority sent the UN secretary-general a letter renewing its request for UN membership, according to a post on social media from the Palestinian permanent observer mission to the UN on Tuesday.

“Today, the State of Palestine, and upon instructions of the Palestinian leadership, sent a letter the Secretary General requesting renewed consideration to Membership application,” the post on X read.

The post included a letter, signed by UN Ambassador of the Palestinian Territories Riyad Mansour, which referenced the initial September 2011 application for membership status and requested renewed consideration this month.

Remember: In September 2011, the Palestinian Authority failed to win UN recognition as an independent member state. A year later, the UN decided that the Palestinian Authority’s “non-member observer entity” status would be changed to “non-member observer state,” similar to the Vatican.

A friend of one of the aid workers with World Central Kitchen who was killed in Gaza on Monday was remembered Tuesday as someone who met people with a smile when they were experiencing the darkest time of their lives.

“She met them with a smile, she met them with humanity, and the world is a darker place without somebody like that today,” Bryan Weaver, a friend of Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom, told CNN’s Jake Tapper.

Weaver said Frankcom saw the children she fed as part of her family.

“The children that she fed in Palestine, the children she fed in in Haiti or the Ukraine, she viewed them as part of her larger extended family, and that’s a unique characteristic in anyone,” Weaver said.
“Zomi really had this view of … that the experience was going to be so life-changing for her and that she wanted to bring just a touch of humanity to folks that were going through the worst moment of their lives,” he added.

The White House has shifted plans for President Joe Biden to host iftar — a dinner to break the Ramadan fast — Tuesday night after Muslim community leaders expressed frustration with the administration’s support of Israel amid the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Biden will still host a small dinner with senior Muslim administration officials, a White House official said. But outside attendees will instead go to a meeting “to discuss issues of importance to the community,” the official said.

“There was a significant amount of pushback from attendees that it would be inappropriate to raise the humanitarian crisis in Gaza over dinner,” a person familiar with the meeting told CNN. “There’s a famine in Gaza, 23 children have died from starvation in Northern Gaza. I don’t think anybody would be comfortable sharing those stories and images over dinner.”

CNN previously reported that several people who were invited to attend declined, sources said.

“Basically the sentiment we heard over and over again was that anybody going to the iftar while Palestinians are being killed and starved should be ashamed of themselves,” another source told CNN.

Vice President Kamala Harris, senior Muslim administration officials, senior members of Biden’s national security team and fewer than a dozen invited guests are expected to attend the meeting, per a senior administration official. 

Some anti-government protesters Tuesday breached security barriers near the Jerusalem residence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to social media videos.

Israeli police said most of the demonstrators behaved lawfully, but noted that some were “disorderly” as they tried to approach Netanyahu’s residence. Israeli media reported several arrests.

“It is emphasized that at no point was there any threat to the Prime Minister’s residence, nor did individuals physically reach it,” a statement from Israeli police read.

One video shows a confrontation between police and Ayala Metzger — the daughter-in-law of one of the hostages held in Gaza. Metzger can be seen being wrestled to the ground as police tried to confiscate a megaphone she was carrying.

Another video showed protesters and police struggling over steel barricades. One man crawled beneath a police water cannon vehicle to prevent it from moving.

National Security Minister Ben Gvir criticized the Israeli security services for allowing protesters to get so close to Netanyahus’ residence.

“Just last week I warned the head of the Shin Bet about the contempt for the Prime Minister’s security and was rejected. I demand that the Shin Bet wake up immediately and take seriously the security of the Prime Minister of Israel and his family,” Gvir said on X. “A situation where thousands of people break into the area of ​​the Prime Minister’s house and the Shin Bet turns a blind eye is unacceptable.”

Other protesters marched toward Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s residence. 

This post was updated with a response from the Israeli police.

The United States assesses that Israel carried out the airstrike Monday in Damascus on what Iran has said was a consulate building, deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh said on Tuesday.

“That’s our assessment, and it’s also our assessment that there were a handful of IRGC top leaders there. I can’t confirm those identities, but that’s our initial assessment right now,” Singh said, referencing Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The Israeli government has not acknowledged carrying out the strike. 

Singh said the Pentagon was “not notified by the Israelis about their strike, or the intended target of their strike, in Damascus.” Israel denied the claim that the building hit was a consulate, saying Monday that it was a “military building of Quds forces,” which is a unit of the IRGC.

Singh said that she couldn’t confirm what type of building was hit in the strike.  “Again this was not a US strike so I don’t have a lot of details on what type of building that was. But no, we don’t support attacks on diplomatic facilities,” she said. 

During a phone call with Israel’s prime minister, Britain’s Rishi Sunak “demanded a thorough and transparent independent investigation” into an Israeli strike on an aid convoy in Gaza. 

Sunak told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he was appalled by the attack, which killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers, including three British nationals,” according to an official Downing Street readout.

“The Prime Minister said far too many aid workers and ordinary civilians have lost their lives in Gaza and the situation is increasingly intolerable,” the statement said.
“The UK expects to see immediate action by Israel to end restrictions on humanitarian aid, deconflict with the UN and aid agencies, protect civilians and repair vital infrastructure like hospitals and water networks,” it added.

The top US diplomat marked the start of National Arab American Heritage Month in a statement Tuesday by noting that it comes “at a time of immense pain.”

“More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, many of them civilians, including thousands of children. Friends and family members of Arab Americans of Palestinian descent, including our colleagues at the Department of State, are grieving lost loved ones,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

The Biden administration has come under immense scrutiny domestically, and from members of the US government workforce, for its policy on Israel and the Gaza war.

Blinken said the US is committed to pursuing a deal that would secure the release of hostages still being held in Gaza and allow more humanitarian aid to enter the enclave.

“I value the conversations I have participated in with my Arab American colleagues and with members of the larger Arab American community on US policy in the region. I will continue to seek their counsel as we pursue lasting peace and security in the Middle East,” he said.

President Joe Biden’s administration reiterated Tuesday that it was not involved in an airstrike Monday on an Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, that left at least 13 people dead.

Iran and Syria accused Israel of authoring the attack, with Tehran warning of a “serious response,” and the powerful Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah saying the strike will be met with “punishment and revenge.” Iran also said it would hold the United States “answerable” due to its support of Israel.

“I can’t predict what the Supreme Leader and what the [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp] IRGC will decide to do or not,” White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told CNN’s Kayla Tausche at Tuesday’s press briefing. “Let me make it clear — we had nothing to do with what the strike in Damascus. We weren’t involved in any way whatsoever.” 

On Monday, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani responded to the strike, which claimed the life of a senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander, Mohammed Reza Zahedi.

“Iran preserves the right to take reciprocal measures and will decide the type of response and punishment against the aggressor,” Kanaani said, according to IRGC-affiliated Fars News. 

Some context: The US has accused Iran of supporting proxy attacks on US and Western targets since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. In January, a drone attack killed three American soldiers at a US outpost in Jordan, which the US attributed to the Iran-backed umbrella group Islamic Resistance in Iraq, though the incident caught Tehran by surprise and worried political leadership there, officials told CNN at the time, citing US intelligence.

Seven aid workers from the non-profit World Central Kitchen were killed in an Israeli military strike Monday night as they were delivering food to starving civilians in Gaza.

World Central Kitchen said its workers were traveling in a “deconflicted zone” in two armored cars branded with the charity’s logo and “a soft skin vehicle.”

Three British nationals, a dual US-Canadian citizen, along with people from Australia and Poland as well as a Palestinian were killed in the strike.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military “unintentionally struck innocent people” as the Israel Defense Forces pledged to investigate the strike “at the highest levels.” World Central Kitchen founder Jose Andres slammed the Israeli government, saying it “needs to stop this indiscriminate killing.”

Here are the latest headlines from the region:

More anti-government protests were held Tuesday in Israel where demonstrators called for the removal of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the release of all remaining hostages in Gaza.

Israeli media reported several thousand people gathered in front of the parliament building in Jerusalem, marking the third of a four-day wave of protests. They are the largest anti-government protests since Israel’s war with Hamas began on October 7.

Einav Zangauker, mother of a hostage being held in Gaza, criticized Netanyahu, saying:

“You are a pharaoh who brought us the plague of the firstborn. You failed. You nurtured and raised Hamas.
“It is your fault that my son Matan is in captivity and being tortured there. You ran a campaign against me, against the families and against the people of Israel. Your supporters call us traitors, you are the traitor. You betrayed your people, your voters, the people of Israel,” she said.

Images from Jerusalem showed people holding signs accusing the Israeli government of “abandoning” hostages as well as “inciting and instigating” the war.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he apologized to founder Jose Andres of World Central Kitchen after Israeli drone strikes killed seven of its aid workers Monday.

Herzog “expressed his deep sorrow and sincere apologies over the tragic loss of life of WCK staff in the Gaza Strip last night, and sent his condolences to their families and loved ones,” according to a post on X from the presidency.

 “The President reiterated Israel’s commitment to ensuring a thorough investigation of the tragedy,” the post read.

The Biden administration is outraged by an Israeli airstrike that killed several aid workers in Gaza, the White House said Tuesday, adding US President Joe Biden also spoke with the organization’s founder, José Andrés, to express his condolences. 

“We were outraged to learn of an IDF strike that killed a number of civilian humanitarian workers yesterday from the World Central Kitchen, which has been relentlessly working to get food to those who are hungry in Gaza, and quite frankly, around the world,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said at a news briefing Tuesday. “We send our deepest condolences to their families and loved ones.”

Kirby said the White House had seen comments from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli Defense Forces that they would investigate and said the administration expected the investigation to be conducted “in a swift and comprehensive manner.” 

“We hope that those findings will be made public and that there is appropriate accountability held,” Kirby said. He said a preliminary investigation had already been completed. 

Kirby said one of the victims was a dual-national United States citizen. 

The ongoing war between Israel and Hamas has become the deadliest for aid workers in more than two decades, according to the Aid Worker Security Database.

In fewer than six months, the number of aid workers killed in Gaza has reached nearly 200 — a higher number of casualties than seen over a year in any other conflict since at least 1997.

Afghanistan, Syria and South Sudan had been the deadliest countries for humanitarian workers in the past 20 years, but annual fatalities during the worst years of conflict there were lower than during the current Israeli offensive in Gaza, data shows.

The Aid Worker Security data includes workers from the United Nations and other nonprofit humanitarian aid agencies. The UN has separately reported more than 170 of its staff members killed since October 7, which is also the highest number of casualties among UN personnel in the agency’s history. Fifteen Palestine Red Crescent Society workers and volunteers have also been killed, according to a UN report on March 29.

The US has a “longstanding commitment” to Israel’s security, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken argued Tuesday as the administration’s arms transfers to the Israel government come under growing scrutiny.

The top US diplomat stressed that commitment has been consistent across Democratic and Republican administrations. “That policy developed over many years, developed into successive agreements between the United States and Israel, long duration, 10 years in this case, to provide military assistance over that timeframe to about $3 billion a year,” Blinken said at a press conference in Paris.

CNN reported Monday the US is close to approving the sale of as many as 50 American-made F-15 fighter jets to Israel, in a deal expected to be worth more than $18 billion, according to three people familiar with the matter.

“We’ve been focused on trying to make sure that October 7 never happens again. Having said that, every relationship we have with Israel (is not) just about Gaza, Hamas, October 7. It’s also about the threats posed to Israel by Hezbollah, by Iran, by various other actors in the region — each one of which has vowed, one way or another, to try to destroy Israel,” Blinken said.

The weapons go toward Israel’s self-defense, replenishment of stocks and supplies, and deterrence from more conflicts, he argued. He also noted that many of the sales were approved years before the war in Gaza, saying “these complex systems can take years.”

He said “every single” arms transfer happens within policy requirements, adding that President Joe Biden’s administration is “going above and beyond the law” to keep Congress apprised.

$18 billion sale of jets: CNN reported Monday the US is close to approving the sale of as many as 50 American-made F-15 fighter jets to Israel, in a deal expected to be worth more than $18 billion, according to three people familiar with the matter.

The Al-Shifa medical complex in northern Gaza is “permanently out of service” due to extensive destruction caused by the 14-day Israeli siege, the hospital’s acting director said Monday, calling for the deployment of a field hospital urgently.

“We can’t work here again or even attempt restoration. These (standing) buildings are near collapse. The damage on the inside is even more,” Dr. Marwan Abu Saada said in a video statement recorded Monday at the complex. 

Before Al-Shifa siege: The hospital — the largest in Gaza — used to have 750 beds, 26 operation rooms and served 250,000 patients annually, he said.

“We urgently need a field hospital to treat our injured with a minimum capacity of 180 beds,” he said.

Dire need for medical workers: The director of the nursing department at the complex, Jadallah Al-Shafie, told CNN on Monday that such a field hospital would require returning the medical staff that were forcibly displaced to the south, in addition to other Arab and international professionals.

Abu Saada said numerous doctors and surgeons were killed or arrested by Israeli forces during the first siege in November, as well as in the second siege that ended early Monday. He said he was appointed in his current position as director following the arrest and imprisonment of his predecessor by Israeli forces.

“We don’t have the staff to even go treat the wounded in other places,” Abu Saada said.

Video and images of the deadly airstrike in Gaza that killed seven aid workers from the nonprofit World Central Kitchen appear to show that the strike was carried out by targeted drone missiles, an explosive weapons expert said.

Chris Cobb-Smith, a former British Army artillery officer and munitions expert, told CNN the heavy damage to three vehicles seen in video and images from the scene was consistent with the use of “highly accurate drone-fired missiles,” adding it was “hard to believe” the tragic incident was accidental.   

The drone that fired the missiles would have been operated in conjunction with a surveillance drone, Cobb-Smith said, meaning the Israeli military would have had total visibility of the cars. At least two of the vehicles were branded with the WCK logo on their roofs, the group has said.

The “limited blast” and “considerable localized destruction” seen in photos and videos of the aftermath are also consistent with an Israeli unmanned aerial vehicle strike, he added.

Cobb-Smith told CNN missile fragments would be needed to definitively identify the exact munition used in the strike.  

Patrick Senft, a research coordinator at Armament Research Services (ARES), echoed the opinion of Cobb-Smith, saying that the aftermath of the strike “seems consistent with munitions deployed by UAVs.”   

“Without munition fragments, I can’t say anything for certain, but the damage to the vehicles appears consistent with precision-guided munitions with a small explosive payload,” Senft said.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid will visit Washington, DC, next week, a spokesperson for Lapid told CNN Tuesday.

The spokesperson did not have details about whom Lapid will meet with, but said that the focus of the visit is “strengthening the Israel-US strategic relationship, bringing the hostages back home, the situation in the north, and Israel’s role in the region.”

A recent visit to Washington by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rival Benny Gantz caused massive outrage from Netanyahu.

Both Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Gantz, a member of the Israeli war cabinet, during that visit in early March. At the meeting, top Biden administration officials conveyed their frustrations over the “unacceptable and unsustainable” situation in Gaza. Gantz’s decision to travel to Washington was not sanctioned by the Israeli government, meaning he was not accompanied by the Israeli ambassador in his meetings, according to an official familiar. 

Blinken regularly meets with Lapid during his trips to Israel.

CNN has reached out to the US State Department and National Security Council to see if any officials plan to meet with Lapid.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant instructed forces on Tuesday to “maintain an open and transparent line of communication” with international organizations on actions being taken after an airstrike killed seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers in Gaza.

Gallant also ordered that a “joint situation room” be opened promptly to coordinate aid distributions between international organizations and the Israel Defense Force’s Southern Command, according to a media statement published after Gallant held a meeting with senior Israeli defense officials.

“Minister Gallant referred to the tragic nature of the incident and emphasized the importance of conducting a thorough, professional investigation, which will be followed by the implementation of lessons learned,” the statement read.

Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the agency that controls access to Gaza, expressed condolences to families of WCK “colleagues” who have “worked closely” with COGAT over the past months.

“Our aim is to prevent such events from happening again, ensuring the safety of humanitarian workers as they carry out their crucial tasks,” COGAT wrote on X Tuesday.

The United Kingdom has summoned the Israeli ambassador in London on Tuesday over the killing of World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza, including three British nationals.

The British Minister for Development and Africa Andrew Mitchell summoned Israel’s ambassador to set out the government’s “unequivocal condemnation of the appalling killing of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers, including three British Nationals,” he said in a Foreign Office press release.

“I requested a quick and transparent investigation, shared with the international community, and full accountability,” Mitchell said. “I reiterated the need for Israel to put in place an effective deconfliction mechanism immediately and urgently to scale up humanitarian access. We need to see an immediate humanitarian pause, to get aid in and the hostages out, then progress towards a sustainable ceasefire.”

Earlier on Tuesday, World Central Kitchen announced that seven members of its team were killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza and said it is immediately pausing its operations in the region.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military “unintentionally struck innocent people” as the Israel Defense Forces pledged to investigate the strike “at the highest levels.” 

A US-Canadian dual citizen was killed in the Israeli strike on a World Central Kitchen convoy, a US official said on Tuesday.

The airstrike killed at least seven aid workers from a team delivering food to civilians in Gaza, according to WCK and authorities in the enclave. WCK previously said those killed include a dual US-Canada national, as well as Australian, Polish, UK, and Palestinian workers.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military “unintentionally struck innocent people” as the Israel Defense Forces pledged to investigate the strike “at the highest levels.” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called for a swift and thorough investigation into the strike.

Founded by celebrity chef José Andrés in 2010, World Central Kitchen (WCK) is a Washington-headquartered charity that delivers food to disaster zones around the world.

It is one of the few charities that had remained operational in Gaza as the enclave faces widespread famine.

It has made headlines in recent years for coordinating food relief for thousands of people after an earthquake devastated Haiti, Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico, wildfires scorched Southern California, and a refugee crisis intensified on the Venezuelan border.

In March, the nonprofit led an initiative to ship 200 tons of food aid to Gaza – which it said was the first maritime shipment of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian enclave.

The shipment included enough ingredients for 500,000 meals that World Central Kitchen planned to distribute in the strip, where hundreds of thousands people are on the brink of famine.

The Biden administration has been in touch with World Central Kitchen founder José Andrés in the wake of the deadly Israeli strike on an aid convoy, a senior administration official told CNN on Tuesday.

US officials have also had outreach with all levels of the Israeli government, as well as the United Nations, the senior administration source said.

These communications began when the US first learned of the deadly incident around 6 p.m. ET last night and has continued overnight and this morning, the official said. 

The official said the US noted the Israel Defense Forces spokesperson’s comments about the strike being investigated at the highest levels. The official stressed that the US expects a prompt, complete and transparent investigation that leads to “corrective measures” being taken. 

They said it is “imperative” that all possible measures be taken to protect and facilitate the safe distribution of humanitarian aid.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the deadly attack on the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria, according to a statement issued on Tuesday.

Guterres reiterated the importance of following international law and not targeting diplomatic and consular premises or personnel. He also stated that all countries have an obligation to uphold commitments under international law, including international humanitarian law, while urging avoidance of actions that could endanger civilians or civilian infrastructure.

Iran and Syria accused Israel of bombing its embassy complex in Syria on Monday — which killed at least seven officials — with Iran vowing to retaliate. The Israeli military told CNN it does not comment on foreign reports, but a military spokesperson said Israel believes the target struck was a “military building of Quds forces,” a unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps responsible for foreign operations.

In light of the precarious situation in the Middle East, Guterres asked all parties involved to exercise restraint to prevent any further escalations.

“He cautions that any miscalculation could lead to broader conflict in an already volatile region, with devastating consequences for civilians who are already seeing unprecedented suffering in Syria, Lebanon, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and the broader Middle East,” the statement added. 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed that the US has spoken to Israel about the strike that killed at least seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza and urged for “a swift, a thorough, an impartial investigation.”

“As we have throughout this conflict, we’ve impressed upon the Israelis the absolute imperative of doing more to protect innocent civilian lives — be they Palestinian children, women and men, or be they aid workers — as well as to get more humanitarian assistance to more people more effectively,” Blinken said at a news conference with French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné in Paris.

Blinken also offered condolences for “the loved ones, to the families, the friends, the colleagues of those who lost their lives, as well as those who were injured.” He praised the work of the nonprofit and its celebrity chef founder José Andrés.

“They have been doing extraordinary brave work, day in day out, and critical work to try to make sure that people in need get what they need, starting with the most basic thing of all — food — to survive,” he said.

Séjourné condemned the strike, stressing that the protection of humanitarian personnel is “a moral and legal imperative to which everyone must adhere.”

CNN’s Pierre Bairin in Paris contributed reporting to this post.

World Central Kitchen (WCK), one of the few organizations delivering desperately needed food to Gaza, announced it was pausing its operations in Gaza following Israel’s strike on aid workers delivering food to starving Palestinians.

Its announcement means there will be even less food reaching the besiege enclave, where aid organizations warn that 2.2 million people do not have enough to eat and half of the population is on the brink of starvation and famine due to Israel’s throttling of aid and widespread destruction.

In March, WCK led the delivery of the first maritime shipment of aid from Cyprus into Gaza, distributing 500,000 meals.

Shortly after WCK announced it was pausing its operations, so did American Near East Refugee Aid (Anera), an organization that has provided about 150,000 meals a day to Gazans in coordination with WCK.

Meanwhile, the main agency responsible for aid distribution in Gaza, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), is also struggling to meet the demand for requirements amid ongoing funding suspensions and blockades from accessing parts of Gaza by Israel. The US and 13 other allies pulled funding for UNRWA after Israeli allegations that some of its staff were involved in Hamas’ October 7 attack. However, funding has since been restored by a number of countries, including Canada, Australia, and — as of Tuesday — Japan.

Cyprus’ President Nikos Christodoulides has vowed to maintain the maritime corridor delivering humanitarian aid from Cyprus to Gaza, saying “the tragic events should not discourage us.”

American Near East Refugee Aid (Anera) suspended its Gaza operations following an airstrike that killed seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers on Monday.

“The killing of WCK humanitarians, occurring less than a month after the still-unexplained killing of Anera staff member Mousa Shawwa, alongside the loss of numerous other aid workers and their families, has led our team to conclude that delivering aid safely is no longer feasible. For the safety of our staff and their families, we are suspending Anera’s work in Gaza,” Anera said in a news release on Tuesday.

Anera said its logistics coordinator in Gaza, Mousa Shawwa was killed in an airstrike while sheltering with his extended family in Deir Al-Balah on March 8. He had just returned from delivering humanitarian aid that afternoon and was still wearing his Anera jacket, according to the organization.

Anera said it has provided an average of 150,000 daily meals in collaboration with WCK along with “millions of medical treatments, and thousands of critical emergency aid items” to Gaza since October 7.

The Israeli military’s top general, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, will “personally review” the findings of the Israeli military’s initial inquiry into Israeli strikes that targeted a convoy of World Central Kitchen (WCK) vehicles, an Israeli military spokesperson told CNN Tuesday.

Halevi will travel to the military’s Southern Command headquarters Tuesday evening to conduct the review.

The Israeli strike killed seven volunteers, including a dual US-Canada citizen, an Australian woman, UK nationals, a Polish man and a Palestinian man, according to WCK.

Earlier on Tuesday, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israeli forces “unintentionally struck innocent people in the Gaza Strip.”

Al-Shifa Hospital “is now in ruins” following Israel’s 14-day siege, World Health Organization (WHO) spokesperson Margaret Harris said at a news conference on Tuesday.

“We’ve had contact with the staff. The directors have told us that Al Shifa Hospital is gone, it’s no longer able to function in any way, shape, or form as a hospital,” she said. “Destroying Al Shifa means ripping the heart out of the health system” in Gaza, Harris added.

Harris said WHO is hoping to send a mission on Tuesday to Al-Shifa “to see what we can do, to help, what aid we can provide.” She added that a ceasefire “should have happened months ago, but it must happen now.”

In a briefing Monday, spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said the IDF had distinguished between patients, medics and civilians sheltering at the medical complex and militants, adding that it had done its utmost to avoid civilian harm, reaffirming the 14-day siege was an “anti-terror” mission.

At least 300 bodies have been uncovered there so far, according to Gaza’s Civil Defense, and one witness described the destructive aftermath as like a scene from a “horror movie.” Determining the precise number of people killed is difficult, it added, because Israeli troops had buried bodies inside and around the complex and bulldozed nearby roads.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israeli forces “unintentionally struck innocent people in the Gaza Strip” in comments on Tuesday.

“Unfortunately, in the last day, there was a tragic incident where our forces unintentionally struck innocent people in the Gaza Strip. It happens in war, and we are thoroughly investigating it. We are in contact with the governments and will do everything to prevent such occurrences in the future,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu’s remarks came after at least seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers were killed in Gaza. The Israel Defense Forces earlier on Tuesday said they were investigating the strike “at the highest levels.”

In the same statement, Netanyahu said he is being released from the hospital after undergoing surgery to treat a hernia this weekend.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a stark warning to Israel on Tuesday, saying Iranians “will punish” Israel after an attack on the Iranian consulate in Syria.

Monday’s attack on the consulate in Damascus killed at least seven military officials of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including senior IRGC commanders Maj. Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi and Gen. Mohammad Hadi Haj Rahimi. Israel’s military said it does not comment on foreign reports, but a military spokesperson said Israeli intelligence suggested the building was not a consulate nor embassy but a military building of the Quds forces.

According to state news agency IRNA, Khamenei wrote that “the evil regime will be punished by the hands of our brave men. By God’s will, we will make them regret this crime and other ones like it.”

Ali Shamkhani, Khamenei’s political adviser and Iran’s former Supreme National Security Council secretary, said Tuesday in a post on X that whether the US knew of Israeli “attacks” or not does not affect its direct responsibility and consequences for strikes in Syria. The US has denied having any knowledge of plans to carry out the attack.

US and Israeli flags burned in protest: People gathered across the Iranian capital Monday night to protest against the bombing of Iran’s consulate in Damascus, which Tehran has blamed on Israel. Protestors could be heard chanting slogans such as “Death to Israel!” and “Revenge! Revenge!” Flags of Israel and the United States were also set on fire during protests.

CNN’s Xiaofei Xu contributed reporting.

An Israeli negotiating delegation will leave Cairo Tuesday, having formulated an “updated proposal” for Hamas.

“In the framework of the talks, under useful Egyptian mediation, the mediators formulated an updated proposal for Hamas,” Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office said Tuesday in a statement on behalf of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency.

It added that Israel “expects the mediators to take vigorous action regarding Hamas to advance the negotiations” to find a deal for the release of hostages still held in Gaza.

The Israeli delegation in Cairo consisted of representatives of Israel’s military, Mossad and ISA intelligence services. The ISA, also known as Shin Bet or Shabak, is Israel’s domestic security agency.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday said he had authorized an Israeli negotiating delegation to travel to Qatar and Egypt.

Last week, a proposal that had been put forward by CIA Director Bill Burns and accepted by Israel was rejected by Hamas, according to an Israeli official.

The maritime corridor delivering humanitarian aid from Cyprus to Gaza “will continue,” the Cypriot president has vowed.

Nikos Christodoulides described the death of seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) workers in Gaza as “tragic news,” at a news conference with the European Parliament’s President Roberta Metsola Tuesday in Cyprus.

The Amalthea Initiative — whereby aid is delivered to Gaza by ship — will continue, “as the humanitarian needs are there,” the Cypriot president said. Two ships, the “Open Arms” and the “Jennifer” have used the port of Larnaca in Cyprus as a base before shipping aid to Gaza.

Earlier on Tuesday, WCK, which has helped lead the maritime corridor initiative, said that it is immediately pausing its operations in the region. President Christodoulides also called for an “immediate and complete investigation” of the incident and expressed “sincere condolences to WCK and the countries who lost their citizens.” 

“The tragic events should not discourage us,” Christodoulides said, adding: “We must double down on our efforts to provide more assistance as the needs dramatically escalate.” 

The United States told Iran it was not involved and had no advance knowledge of Monday’s strike on an Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, according to a US official. The communication comes amid concern about the war between Israel and Hamas widening to a broader regional conflict. Iran has vowed retaliation after a strike it blamed on Israel killed two of its top commanders and five others at its consulate in Syria.

“The United States had no involvement in the strike and we did not know about it ahead of time,” according to a National Security Council spokesperson. The US has “communicated this directly to Iran,” the US official said. Axios was first to report this.

On Monday, the State Department said the US was gathering more information about Monday’s strike in Damascus but expressed concerns about any further regional conflict.

“Before we have gathered information about what exactly this was, I don’t want to speak to it, specifically, but of course, we were always concerned about anything that would be escalatory or cause an increase in conflict in the region,” said State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has said “the United States should be answerable” for the attack. Amir-Abdollahian said Iran summoned the Swiss chargé d’affaires in Tehran early hours Tuesday local time to discuss the incident, given Switzerland’s role in representing US interests in Iran.

At least seven aid workers were killed by an Israeli air strike while delivering food to civilians in Gaza, according to non-profit group World Central Kitchen (WCK) and authorities in the besieged enclave.

Details are still emerging about those killed, but here’s what we know so far:

The victims: Among those killed include a dual US-Canada national, as well as people from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, and a Palestinian, the group said.

“I am heartbroken and appalled that we – World Central Kitchen and the world – lost beautiful lives today because of a targeted attack by the IDF,” World Central Kitchen CEO Erin Gore said in the statement.

Saif Issam Abu-Taha, a Palestinian driver and translator working with WCK was named as one of the victims by Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Gaza.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese identified the Australian victim as Lalzawmi “Zomi” Frankcom. “This is someone who volunteered in Australia to help people during the bushfires. This is someone who was volunteering overseas to provide aid through this charity for people who are suffering tremendous deprivation in Gaza,” Albanese said.

What Israel is saying: The Israeli military is investigating the deadly strike on WCK aid workers “at the highest levels,” Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said. Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari also said that he had spoken to WCK founder Chef José Andrés and “expressed the deepest condolences of the Israel Defense Forces to the families and the entire World Central Kitchen family.”

International response:

International organizations and countries have taken to social media reacting to the killing of seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) workers in Gaza on Tuesday.

Here’s what they have to say:

The Israeli military said Tuesday it was investigating a deadly strike on World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers “at the highest levels.”

“We have been reviewing the incident at the highest levels to understand the circumstances of what happened and how it happened,” a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) military said Tuesday.

An Israeli airstrike killed at least seven aid workers from a team delivering food to civilians in Gaza, according to WCK and authorities in the enclave. Those killed include a dual US-Canada national, as well as people from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, and a Palestinian, according to the non-profit.

IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said he had spoken to WCK founder Chef José Andrés and “expressed the deepest condolences of the Israel Defense Forces to the families and the entire World Central Kitchen family.”

Hagari said that the IDF would investigate the events “thoroughly and transparently”, and the Israeli military had expressed “sincere sorrow” to its “allied nations who have been doing and continue to do so much to assist those in need.”

“We will get to the bottom of this and we will share our findings transparently,” Hagari said. The IDF’s review would further help “reduce the risk of such an event from occurring again.”

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Tuesday blamed Israel for an attack on Tehran’s consulate in the Syrian capital Damascus, saying it “will not go unanswered,” state news agency IRNA reported.

“The Zionists should know that they will never achieve their sinister goals with such inhumane actions, and day by day they have witnessed the strengthening of the resistance front and the disgust and hatred of free nations against their illegitimate nature. This cowardly crime will not go unanswered,” Raisi said, according to IRNA.

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council announced after a meeting with Raisi on Monday that “appropriate decisions” were made in response to the attack, IRNA reported.

The attack killed at least seven officials including Mohammed Reza Zahedi, a top commander in Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), and senior commander Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi.

Israel’s military said it does not comment on foreign reports, but its spokesperson told CNN the consulate was a “military building of Quds forces disguised as a civilian building.”

The White House is “heartbroken and deeply troubled” by a strike that killed at least seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza and is urging Israel to investigate the incident, a spokesperson for the National Security Council says.

“We are heartbroken and deeply troubled by the strike that that killed @WCKitchen aid workers in Gaza,” National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson posted on X late Monday night.

“Humanitarian aid workers must be protected as they deliver aid that is desperately needed, and we urge Israel to swiftly investigate what happened.”

Those killed include a dual US-Canada national, as well as people from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, and a Palestinian, according to the non-profit. US officials have been in contact with Israeli officials about the strike, a US official said.

The Israel Defense Forces said it was “conducting a thorough review” of the incident.

Poland’s foreign ministry confirmed on Tuesday that a Polish national who was a volunteer with the non-profit World Central Kitchen was killed in Gaza. 

“We express our sincerest condolences to the family of the volunteer who provided aid to the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip,” the Polish Foreign Ministry said in a post on social media. “Poland does not agree with the lack of compliance with international humanitarian law and the protection of civilians, including humanitarian workers,” the ministry said. 

The volunteer, Damian Soból, was from the Polish town of Przemyśl, according to the town’s mayor.  

Soból is among at least seven aid workers who were killed in an Israeli military strike while delivering food to civilians in Gaza, according to World Central Kitchen and authorities in the enclave. Those killed include a dual US-Canada national, as well as people from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, and a Palestinian, according to the non-profit.

Poland’s Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said he had “personally” asked the Israeli Ambassador to Poland Yacov Livne for “urgent explanations.”

“He assured me that Poland would soon receive the results of the investigation into this tragedy,” Sikorski said, adding Poland’s Ministry of Justice has opened its own investigation. 

The Israel Defense Forces said it was “conducting a thorough review” of the incident.

Aid organizations around the world on Tuesday mourned the killing of seven World Central Kitchen workers in Gaza.

The director of the World Food Programme in Palestine praised their “life-saving” work in a post on X.

“In #Gaza, nearly half the population faces imminent famine. Courageous aid-workers in the food security sector provide truly life-saving #food assistance, while also bravely managing terrible risks each day. They should not have to… Humanitarians are #NotATarget,” Matthew Hollingworth wrote.

Open Arms, a non-profit rescue organization, called their deaths “Irreparable human losses.” 

“We are devastated. We came together to help in a place where hunger is a weapon of war, and now the teams of our colleagues @WCKitchen in #Gaza are the target. Irreparable human losses in a place where humanity is being destroyed. RIP,” Open Arms said in a post on X.

Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, expressed grief over the repeated deaths of aid workers in the conflict.

“We are mourning with our colleagues in WCK(World Central Kitchen). 7 of their aid workers were killed by an Israeli air strike in Gaza. WCK had informed the IDF of their movement. Nowhere else are so many aid workers killed. There must be an immediate ceasefire. Enough now,” he wrote on X. 

Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA), expressed his condolences to the families and colleagues of the victims.

“Devastated by the killing of 7 humanitarian workers in #Gaza when their convoy was reportedly hit by the Israeli Forces. The @WCK provides much needed food assistance to a starving population. Humanitarian workers are #NotATarget . My deepest condolences to @WCK & families of those killed,” he wrote wrote on X.

The aid workers were killed by an Israeli airstrike, according to WCK and authorities in Gaza.

Those killed include a dual US-Canada national, as well as people from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, and a Palestinian, according to the non-profit.

The Israel Defense Forces said it was “conducting a thorough review” of the incident.

China has condemned the killing of seven people working for non-profit World Central Kitchen in Gaza.

The aid workers were killed by an Israeli airstrike, according to the charity and authorities in Gaza.

“China opposes all acts that harm civilians, damage civilian facilities, and violate international law,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Tuesday.
China was “shocked by the attack,” he added. 

He said civilians “should not be targeted, and the safety of international humanitarian aid workers should not be threatened.”

He also urged all parties, “especially Israel,” to “fulfil their obligations under the UN Charter, cease fire immediately… and make every effort to protect civilians, hospitals and other civilian facilities specially protected by the Geneva Conventions.”

Those killed include a dual US-Canada national, as well as people from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, and a Palestinian, according to the non-profit.

The Israel Defense Forces said it was “conducting a thorough review” of the incident.

China has condemned a deadly strike on Iran’s consulate in Syria, which Tehran blamed on Israel.

“The security of diplomatic institutions cannot be violated, and Syria’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity should be respected,” China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Wang Wenbin said on Tuesday.
“The current situation in the Middle East is turbulent, and we oppose any actions that lead to an escalation of tension,” he said.

Iran has vowed to retaliate after the bombing, which is a deadly escalation of regional tensions over the war in Gaza that has appeared to raise the risk of a wider Middle Eastern conflict.

The UK is “urgently seeking further information” on the death of a British aid worker killed in Gaza, its foreign office said on Tuesday.

The British national was one of seven aid workers working with non-profit World Central Kitchen (WCK) who were killed by an Israeli airstrike, according to the charity and authorities in Gaza.

“We are aware of reports of the death of British National in Gaza and are urgently seeking further information,” a spokesperson from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said.

The office called for International Humanitarian Law to be respected and civilians to be protected, saying too many civilians have been killed and that they wanted to see greater care to avoid harming civilians and destroying homes.

Those killed include a dual US-Canada national, as well as people from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, and a Palestinian, the non-profit said.

The Israel Defense Forces said it was “conducting a thorough review” of the incident.

Iran has vowed to retaliate after a bombing of its embassy complex in Syria that it blamed on Israel — a deadly escalation of regional tensions over the war in Gaza that appeared to raise the risk of a wider Middle Eastern conflict.

Here’s what we know about the attack:

Who was killed in the strike? The strike killed at least seven officials, including Mohammed Reza Zahedi, a top commander in Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), and senior commander Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi.

Zahedi is the most high-profile Iranian target killed since former US President Donald Trump ordered the assassination of IRGC Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad in 2020.

How may Iran respond? Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani warned that Tehran “preserves the right to take reciprocal measures and will decide the type of response and punishment against the aggressor.”

Iran’s most powerful paramilitary ally, Hezbollah, warned that Israel would pay for the attack. Hezbollah has been embroiled in daily crossfire with Israeli forces since the war in Gaza started.

Israel’s military said it does not comment on foreign reports, but its spokesperson told CNN the consulate was a “military building of Quds forces disguised as a civilian building.”

How does the strike escalate regional tensions? While Israel has long targeted Iran and its proxies in Syria, its alleged attack in Damascus is a significant escalation due to both the location and the target. The consulate building, which includes the ambassador’s residence and is located next to the Iranian Embassy, is considered sovereign Iranian territory.

Read the full story.

Gaza’s General Directorate of Civil Defense has condemned the “targeting” of non-profit World Central Kitchen’s aid workers after seven were killed in a strike, and said it held the Israeli government accountable.

“We hold the occupation accountable for the consequences of targeting working crews protected by international humanitarian law, and we demand the opening of an immediate and fair investigation under the auspices of the Secretary-General of the United Nations,” the statement said Tuesday. 

The directorate said World Central Kitchen has “a major role in providing and securing aid and food for our people in the Gaza Strip and providing food and clothing for the displaced near the checkpoint.”

The statement called for the protection of aid workers in line with international law.

“We extend our condolences and sympathy to the families of the victims and the World Food Kitchen staff, and we thank them for their stand with the Palestinian people,” it said.

The directorate also called for the protection of aid workers in line with international law.

At least seven aid workers from World Central Kitchen were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Monday, according to the aid group.

The Israel Defense Forces said it was “conducting a thorough review” of the incident.

Saif Issam Abu-Taha, a Palestinian driver and translator working with non-profit World Central Kitchen, was one of the aid workers killed in an Israeli strike on Gaza on Monday, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

The driver was among at least seven aid workers killed, despite the team traveling in what the organization referred to as “deconflicted zone” in two armored cars branded with the charity’s logo.

Those killed include a dual US-Canada national, as well as people from Australia, Poland, and the United Kingdom, the non-profit said.

Seven aid workers, including multiple foreigners, from a team delivering food to starving civilians in Gaza have been killed in an Israeli military strike, according to non-profit group World Central Kitchen and authorities in the besieged enclave.

World Central Kitchen said its aid workers were traveling in a “deconflicted zone” in two armored cars branded with the charity’s logo as well as “a soft skin vehicle”.

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

Those killed include a dual US-Canada national, as well as people from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, and a Palestinian, the group said.

“I am heartbroken and appalled that we – World Central Kitchen and the world – lost beautiful lives today because of a targeted attack by the IDF,” World Central Kitchen CEO Erin Gore said in the statement.

“The love they had for feeding people, the determination they embodied to show that humanity rises above all, and the impact they made in countless lives will forever be remembered and cherished,” Gore said.

Read the full story.

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan will travel to Saudi Arabia this week to continue talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman about a normalization deal between Israel and the kingdom, according to a US official. 

No major breakthroughs are expected from the meeting, the official added. 

Sullivan’s visit comes less than two weeks after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken cited “good progress” in the ongoing talks during his visit to Saudi Arabia.

The potential deal, which many view as a major hurdle that may prove too challenging to pull off — especially while Israel is at war in Gaza — would have many elements, including a US military agreement with Saudi that would support its development of a civilian nuclear program, US officials have told CNN.

But the details of that portion of the deal, as well as many other aspects, remain in the works, the US official said Monday. 

Axios was the first to report on Sullivan’s visit. 

Some background: Just weeks before Hamas launched its October 7 attack on Israel, Saudi Arabia said it was inching closer to normalizing diplomatic ties with the Jewish state. But months of war in Gaza have left the Arab world seething, jeopardizing any potential deal.

Iran has vowed a “decisive” response after a strike it blamed on Israel killed two of its top commanders and five other officials at its consulate in Syria, in what may be the most dangerous escalation outside of Gaza since the start of the Hamas-Israel war nearly six months ago.

Iranian authorities and state media named senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders Mohammed Reza Zahedi and Haji Rahimi among those killed.

Israel’s military said it does not comment on foreign reports, but its spokesperson said the consulate was a “military building of Quds forces disguised as a civilian building.”

The Quds Force is a unit of Iran’s IRGC responsible for foreign operations.

Here are the latest developments in the region:

Japan has lifted its funding suspension of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoko Kamikawa said Tuesday.

Israel has accused at least 12 staffers from the UN Relief and Works Agency of being involved in the October 7 Hamas attacks and has alleged that about 12% of the UN Relief and Works Agency’s 13,000 staffers are members of Hamas or other Palestinian militant groups. UNRWA says it has fired 10 of the 12 accused staffers and that the other two are dead. CNN cannot confirm the allegations.

Japan’s move came after a meeting on Saturday between Kamikawa and Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner General of UNRWA.

In the meeting, Lazzarini laid out the steps the agency was taking to “improve screening and education to ensure neutrality of UNRWA staff,” according to a statement from Japan’s foreign ministry on Saturday.

UNRWA also agreed to establish a new framework with Japan on project management and monitoring to ensure “transparency and traceability of projects,” the ministry added.

Some background: UNRWA is the primary humanitarian aid group in Gaza. About 2 million Gazans rely on the agency for aid, with 1 million people using UNRWA shelters for food and healthcare amid the fighting in the enclave.

An Australian is among members of the aid organization World Central Kitchen who were killed in Gaza, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Tuesday.

“Lalzawmi ‘Zomi’ Frankcom was doing extraordinarily valuable work. This is someone who volunteered in Australia to help people during the bushfires. This is someone who was volunteering overseas to provide aid through this charity for people who are suffering tremendous deprivation in Gaza,” Albanese said.
“Australia expects full accountability for the deaths of aid workers, which is completely unacceptable,” Albanese said. 

Australia has contacted Israel, Albanese said, adding that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has “requested a call-in from the Israeli ambassador to Australia” to “ask for accountability.”

“The truth is that this is beyond beyond any reasonable circumstances that someone going about providing aid and humanitarian assistance should lose their life. And there were four aid workers as well as a Palestinian driver in this vehicle,” Albanese said.

The prime minister sent his deepest condolences to her family.

At least five aid workers, including foreigners, who were delivering food to starving civilians in Gaza have been killed in an Israeli military strike, according to non-profit group World Central Kitchen and authorities in the besieged enclave.

Videos obtained by CNN show the bodies of multiple people wearing World Central Kitchen vests following an airstrike in the central city of Deir Al-Balah. Passports from Britain, Poland and Australia are seen in the footage.

World Central Kitchen founder José Andrés confirmed the five deaths to CNN.

“Today @WCKitchen lost several of our sisters and brothers in an IDF air strike in Gaza,” Andrés wrote on Twitter. “I am heartbroken and grieving for their families and friends and our whole WCK family.”

“The Israeli government needs to stop this indiscriminate killing. It needs to stop restricting humanitarian aid, stop killing civilians and aid workers, and stop using food as a weapon,” he added.

The IDF said it is “conducting a thorough review at the highest levels to understand the circumstances of this tragic incident.”

Hamas condemned the attack in a statement on Tuesday, urging the international community and the United Nations to “take action.”

Read the full story.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has blamed Israel for Monday’s attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, but also said that the United States was responsible for it because it supports Israel.

The top diplomat’s comments underscore the increasing strain between Tehran and Washington, with Iran pointing fingers at the US for its support of Israel.

Conveying the stern message in a post on X, Amir-Abdollahian said the Swiss chargé d’affaires in Tehran was summoned by Iran’s Foreign Ministry early Tuesday to discuss the incident, given Switzerland’s role in representing US interests in Iran.

“The dimensions of the Israeli regime’s terrorist attack and crime were explained, and the American administration’s responsibility underlined” in the meeting, the minister said.
“An important message was relayed to the American administration as the Zionist regime’s supporter,” he added. “The United States should be answerable.”

Some background: The Israel Defense Forces hasn’t commented publicly on the strike that Iran said killed two commanders and several others. But IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari disputed that the building was a consulate. “This is a military building of Quds forces disguised as a civilian building in Damascus,” he said. Separately, The New York Times reported that four unnamed Israeli officials acknowledged that Israel carried out the attack.

The Biden administration is close to approving the sale of as many as 50 American-made F-15 fighter jets to Israel, in a deal expected to be worth more than $18 billion, according to three people familiar with the matter.

The transaction, which would amount to the largest US foreign military sale to Israel since the country went to war with Hamas on October 7, comes as the administration is also expected to notify Congress soon of a large new sale of precision-guided munitions to Israel, the people said.

The new sales of some of the US’ most sophisticated weaponry underscore the extent to which the US continues to support Israel militarily, even as Biden administration officials criticize Israel’s operations in Gaza, which have killed more than 32,000 Palestinians since October, according to the Gaza Ministry of health.

The sale is likely to be hotly debated in Congress, particularly by members of the president’s party. US weapons sales to Israel have come under intense scrutiny in recent months and Democratic lawmakers have called for restricting military aid to Israel until it allows more humanitarian aid into Gaza and does more to protect civilians there.

Since Hamas’ attack on Israel in October, which killed over 1,200 Israelis, the United States has made more than 100 foreign military sales to Israel. Most of those have fallen under the specific dollar amount that requires a notification to Congress, an official familiar with the matter previously told CNN.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to shut down news network Al Jazeera following the passage Monday of a sweeping law allowing the government to ban foreign networks perceived as posing a threat to national security.

Netanyahu said he intended “to act immediately in accordance with the new law” to stop the Qatari-based news outlet’s activity, according to a post on social media platform X following the passage of the law.

Al Jazeera, which has produced dogged, on-the-ground reporting of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, slammed the decision in a statement, vowing it would not stop the network from continuing its “bold and professional coverage.”

The new law gives the prime minister and communications minister authority to order the temporary closure of foreign networks operating in Israel – powers that rights groups say could have far-reaching implications on international media coverage of the war in Gaza.

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The attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus on Monday may be the most dangerous escalation outside of Gaza since the start of the Hamas-Israel war nearly six months ago.

The attack is the latest in a recent string of apparent Israeli strikes in Syria that targeted the IRGC and Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. So far, the attacks have not provoked a response outside the scope of months-long skirmishes on Israel’s border with Lebanon — despite repeated threats by Iran and Hezbollah’s leadership to respond to Israeli attacks in kind.

Monday’s incident, however, may be the last straw.

Iran’s regional allies say they entered confrontations with Israel on behalf of Palestinians in Gaza, where over 32,000 people have been killed, according to local authorities. This has boosted their regional popularity and shored up their political positions domestically. But they have sought to avoid an all-out conflagration, a relief to Washington, which has thrown its weight into preventing a regional war.

That may be an untenable position after today’s strike, which has again brought the region to the brink of an expanded war.

Iran has promised a “decisive” response after a deadly strike on its consulate in Damascus, Syria, that it blamed on Israel.

Iranian ambassador in Damascus, Hossein Akbari, accused Israel of the attacks, alleging that the building “was targeted with six missiles from Israeli F-35 warplanes.”

Syrian state media Syrian Arab News Agency reported that “an Israeli act of aggression targeted on Monday afternoon a building in Mezzeh neighborhood in Damascus,” causing “massive destruction.” CNN cannot independently verify the claims.

Akbari said Israel’s attack was “against all international laws” and Iran “will be decisive in our response.”

Seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp officials were killed in the attack, including senior Iranian commanders Mohammed Reza Zahedi and Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi, according to an IRGC statement.

“This is perhaps the first time that the Zionist regime allows itself to attack an official building of the Islamic Republic of Iran embassy, which had the flag of the Islamic Republic raised on top of it,” he claimed.
“Iran preserves the right to take reciprocal measures and will decide the type of response and punishment against the aggressor,” Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said, according to IRGC-affiliated Fars News.

Israel response: Israel’s military said it does not comment on foreign reports, but a military spokesperson said:

“According to our intelligence, this is no consulate and this is no embassy. I repeat, this is no consulate and this is no embassy. This is a military building of Quds forces disguised as a civilian building in Damascus,” Daniel Hagari said in an interview with CNN.

Israel’s military has withdrawn from Gaza’s largest hospital, Al-Shifa, after a 14-day siege that witnesses and Palestinian officials say has left buildings largely destroyed and bodies strewn across the complex.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its troops had killed Hamas militants and seized weaponry and intelligence documents.

Medical crews are working to recover hundreds of bodies scattered across the grounds at Al-Shifa, with at least 300 bodies found so far, according to Gaza’s Civil Defense.

Determining the precise number of people killed is difficult, it added, because Israeli troops had buried bodies inside and around the complex and bulldozed nearby roads.

Raed al-Dahshan, director of operations at Gaza’s Civil Defense, told CNN it is “almost impossible” for ambulances to reach the hospital due to damaged roads in the city.

IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said 900 suspected militants had been detained during its two-week operation. More than 500 of these had been identified as members of Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), Hagari said Monday, adding some of those detained are “commanders and significant people.”

CNN is unable to verify the number of bodies inside Al-Shifa independently because of the lack of reporting access in Gaza.

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