April 3, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

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

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin expressed his “outrage” over the Israeli strike on a World Central Kitchen humanitarian aid convoy during a call with his Israeli counterpart on Wednesday.

Austin stressed the need to “immediately take concrete steps to protect aid workers and Palestinian civilians in Gaza after repeated coordination failures with foreign aid groups,” according to a Pentagon readout of the call with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

A strike by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) hit a returning World Central Kitchen convoy on Monday. The victims include a dual US-Canada national, a Palestinian, three Brits, an Australian, and a Pole.

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

On the call with Gallant, Austin warned that the deadly strike “reinforced the expressed concern over a potential Israeli military operation in Rafah, specifically focusing on the need to ensure the evacuation of Palestinian civilians and the flow of humanitarian aid,” according to the readout.

He also stressed that the strike “makes it more difficult to flood the zone with humanitarian assistance, as Israeli officials have stated they seek to do,” and raised concern over the risk of famine in northern Gaza.

Read more here:

US forces destroyed Houthi weapons launched from Yemen toward a warship in the Red Sea on Wednesday, according to US Central Command (CENTCOM).

The USS Gravely, a guided missile destroyer, along with CENTCOM forces destroyed an anti-ship ballistic missile and two drones launched by Houthis.

There were no injuries or damage to the ship, CENTCOM said.

Around the same time, US forces “destroyed a mobile surface-to-air missile system in Houthi controlled territory,” CENTCOM said.

Some context: Iran-backed Houthi rebels have been striking ships in the Red Sea since late last year, which they say is revenge against Israel for its military campaign in Gaza.

Most of these missile and drone attacks have been intercepted by US or coalition destroyers or landed harmlessly in the water.

The United States and Britain have conducted multiple rounds of airstrikes on Houthi positions in Yemen in recent months, but that has not stopped the attacks. The rebel group has continued to fortify its weapons stockpile in Yemen, CNN previously reported.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday warned Israel that it will regret carrying out a deadly strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus on Monday.

“With God’s help, we will make the Zionists sorry for their crime of aggression against the Iranian consulate in Damascus,” Khamenei said in an early morning post on X in Hebrew.

Iran has vowed to retaliate after it accused Israel of bombing its embassy complex in Syria’s capital, in a deadly escalation of regional tensions over the war in Gaza that once again appeared to raise the risk of a wider Middle Eastern conflict.

The airstrike destroyed the consulate building in the Syrian capital, killing 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, according to Iran’s foreign ministry.

The Israeli military told CNN it does not comment on foreign reports. However, a military spokesperson said Israel believes the target struck was a “military building of Quds forces,” a unit of the IRGC responsible for foreign operations.

The Biden administration, in private conversations with the Israel Defense Forces and members of the Israeli government, has demanded that the military make changes to the way information is transmitted about where aid workers are stationed, according to a US official.

President Joe Biden also plans to communicate that in his phone call Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the official added.

“Either the information [about the convoy] didn’t make it past the targeting team, or it was disregarded. Either way it’s a problem,” this official tells CNN.

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

But as the rhetoric from the White House intensifies, it’s become increasingly divorced from the Biden administration’s stated policy on Israel, which continues to receive steadfast, unconditional support in the form of billions of dollars of military aid.

Asked why there had not been “consequences” for Israel as a result of the strike, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “We are having conversations with the Israeli government… those conversations have been tough.”

US President Joe Biden will speak to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, according to a US official.

This would mark the two leaders’ first conversation since Israel killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in a strike in Gaza.

In the aftermath of those deaths, a senior administration official said Biden is “angry” and “increasingly frustrated.” The president is fully prepared to make his point of view known to Netanyahu in their conversation, the official added.

White House officials have emphasized that the US’ stance in supporting Israel’s current military operation remains unchanged.  

There has been no “shift in policy,” the official said, but rather a shift in “the president’s frustrations.”

And while the aid worker deaths will serve as the urgent backdrop, Biden is also expected to discuss other issues, including ramping up humanitarian aid to Gaza, the ongoing hostages and ceasefire deal talks, as well as the US’ concerns about a potential ground incursion into Rafah.

The post has been updated with more details from a senior administration official.

World Central Kitchen has yet to decide when it will resume its humanitarian operations in Gaza after seven workers were killed Monday night in an Israel airstrike.

WCK founder José Andrés accused Israel of systematically targeting the aid convoy. 

A United Nations aid agency is also suspending its movements at night for at least 48 hours, spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said after the attack that, according to a CNN analysis, appeared to have consisted of multiple precision strikes.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden, who expressed outrage over the strike, will speak to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, according to a US official.

Here’s the other news from the region:

World Central Kitchen (WCK) said in a statement Wednesday that a determination has not yet been made about when the non-profit will resume operations in Gaza. 

WCK said all of its aid ships are now back in Cyprus 

WCK suspended its operations in Gaza after Israeli airstrikes killed seven of its team members on Monday.

More about WCK: The non-profit has provided food aid in warzones and regions recovering from natural disasters since its founding by chef José Andrés in 2010. Andrés created the organization after traveling to Haiti that year to cook for civilians following a devastating earthquake. Since then, the WCK has quickly become one of the world’s foremost food aid providers.

A boat carrying roughly 332 tons of humanitarian aid left Gaza without offloading most of its cargo following the deadly Israeli military strike which killed several aid workers, according to the Cypriot foreign ministry.

The vessel organized by the non-profit World Central Kitchen (WCK) set sail back to Cyprus following the strike on Monday that killed seven WCK staff, said Theodoros Gotsis, a spokesperson for the ministry. 

After unloading some cargo on Monday, workers had planned to unload a further 240 tons of aid, Gotsis said Wednesday. But, after the strike, the WCK announced an immediate pause to operations in the region.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Wednesday that it’s going to increase recruitment and will call up reservists for its air defense.

“Following an IDF situational assessment, it was decided to increase manpower and draft reserve soldiers to the IDF Aerial Defense Array,” the military said.

It comes as Iran has vowed to retaliate after it accused Israel of bombing its embassy complex in Syria on Monday. The bombing was a deadly escalation of regional tensions over the war in Gaza that once again appeared to raise the risk of a wider Middle Eastern conflict.

President Joe Biden “expressed his 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,” during a contentious meeting with Muslim leaders at the White House Tuesday, the White House said Wednesday.

Biden hosted the leaders to discuss Gaza, but the meeting was upended after the sole Palestinian-American participant – Dr. Thaer Ahmad, who has traveled to Gaza to treat wounded civilians – walked out in protest after handing Biden a letter from an 8-year-old orphan girl living in Rafah.

Pressed on Ahmad’s decision to leave the meeting early, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to respond directly, citing participants’ request to keep the meeting private.

“We said that we would keep these conversations private, so I’m not going to comment on any private discussions,” she said during Wednesday’s news briefing. “But as I’ve said many times from this podium, the president respects an American — any American’s — right to peacefully protest, and we’re going to continue to have these conversations obviously, with our community.”

CNN has reported that Tuesday’s meeting was originally supposed to take the form of an iftar fast-breaking dinner in honor of Ramadan, but that attendees pushed back, saying it would be inappropriate to talk about the crisis over dinner while people in Gaza are starving.

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called the response from Israel after the strikes that killed several aid workers in Gaza “unacceptable and insufficient.”  

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israeli authorities were thoroughly investigating the incident which he said involved Israeli forces “unintentionally” striking “innocent people in the Gaza Strip.” 

Speaking at a news conference in Doha on Wednesday, Sanchez said countries are keen for more details on “the reason for the bombing,” because the “government of Israel knew of the action and itinerary of this NGO in Gaza.” 

“I think this [Israel’s explanation] is absolutely unacceptable and insufficient and what we expect is a much more determined and detailed explanation about what happened, and from there we will decide what actions we will take in relation to the government of Prime Minister Netanyahu,” Sanchez said. 

Spain has been one of the strongest critics of Israel’s war in Gaza, with Sanchez repeatedly calling on Israel to agree to a ceasefire and allow desperately needed humanitarian aid to enter the enclave. 

The US has had several conversations with humanitarian aid organizations who said they are concerned about the Israeli strike on World Central Kitchen workers, according to the State Department.

“There have been 200 aid workers that have been killed, so the very sad truth is that the workers doing this important work are aware of the risk because they’re living with them every day, and are putting their lives potentially on the line to deliver humanitarian assistance,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said at a briefing.

Miller said the aid groups have said they want the Israeli government to “do better” and that the US has pushed the Israeli government to do so.

The United States State Department said the deadly Israeli strike on a World Central Kitchen convoy is “unacceptable,” no matter the reason.

Spokesperson Matthew Miller noted the Israel Defense Forces called the strike “a misidentification,” which he interpreted as “that while they were targeting those cars, they did not believe that it was the World Central Kitchen that was operating those vehicles at the time.”

“That said, we need to wait and see the outcome of this investigation to know with any confidence what it was that happened,” he said.

But “it doesn’t really matter how they made the mistake,” Miller said. 
“At the end of the day, you have seven dead aid workers who were there trying to deliver humanitarian assistance. So whatever the reason was that led to this tragedy, whatever the mistake that happened inside the IDF, it’s unacceptable, and they need to do better, and they need to put measures in place to ensure that it doesn’t happen again,” he said.

Miller also said Israeli officials “don’t have to wait for the outcome of this investigation to … put in place better deconfliction and better coordination measures to protect humanitarian workers and to protect all the civilians on the ground.”

Pier plans unaffected: Despite the strike, the US is still working on constructing a pier to deliver aid to Gaza, Miller said.

“That effort is ongoing. The Pentagon is working hard on that,” he said. “We want to get that stood up as soon as possible.” He did note that “the real question is being able to distribute” aid into Gaza once it reaches the strip, either by land or sea.

The founder of World Central Kitchen accused Israel of systematically targeting the seven aid workers from his organization who were killed in Gaza this week. 

In a Reuters interview, founder chef José Andrés said that it was not a “bad luck situation where, ‘oops,’ we dropped the bomb in the wrong place.”

“Even if we were not in coordination with the (Israel Defense Forces), no democratic country and no military can be targeting civilians and humanitarians,” he added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israeli forces “unintentionally struck innocent people,” and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said the strike was a “grave mistake.”

A United Nations aid agency is suspending its movements at night for at least 48 hours, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Wednesday.

The move, impacting the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), will be used to assess security concerns impacting humanitarian work in the region, Dujarric said.

It comes after seven World Central Kitchen aid workers were killed in Gaza earlier this week.

Key Israeli opposition figures are calling for fresh elections in Israel.

Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz, a main political rival of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has openly called for parliamentary elections in September in a public briefing Wednesday. 

“In order for us to remain united and succeed in the tasks we’re facing, the public must know that we’ll soon ask once again for them to demonstrate their trust, that we won’t ignore the October 7 catastrophe and what occurred prior to it,” Gantz said. 

Gantz said that he has notified the Israeli prime minister of his request, but he refused to say if he will leave the coalition if the government fails to decide on an election date. Gantz has been one of the most vocal opponents of Netanyahu from within the war cabinet.

Netanyahu’s party responds: The Likud party urged Gantz to “stop engaging in petty politics” while Israel is at war. “Elections now will inevitably lead to paralysis, division, damage to the fighting in Rafah and fatal damage to the chances of a hostage deal,” the party said in a statement. “The government will continue until all the goals of the war are achieved.”

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid called for the current government to resign “as early as possible” in response to Gantz’s statement. “The State of Israel can’t wait for six more months until this terrible, dangerous and most failed government in this country’s history leaves. This government should leave as early as possible so we can bring back the hostages, allow the return of evacuated citizens, win over Hamas and ensure that someone’s caring for the Israeli middle class,” Lapid said in a post on X on Wednesday.

Remember: This is not the first time fresh elections have been called for. Another minister Gadi Eisenkot also called for the same earlier this year, saying elections are important “to renew the trust, as currently there is no trust.” There have also been large public protests in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, a significant challenge to the increasingly embattled leadership of Netanyahu.

A statement signed by 13 leading humanitarian and human rights organizations Wednesday called for urgent international action to stop Israel from escalating military operations in Rafah. If unstopped, the groups warn, the already dire humanitarian consequences in the southernmost Gaza city could be catastrophic.

The agencies — including Save the Children, Amnesty International and Oxfam International — underscored that despite a recent United Nations Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire and additional provisional measures from the International Court of Justice, Israeli military operations in Rafah continue.

The planned Israeli ground offensive in the city threatens the lives of more than a million civilians, most who have been displaced with limited access to essential services and nowhere safe to seek refuge.

“Humanitarian and human rights organizations have repeatedly warned that the planned Israeli ground incursion into Rafah promises to decimate life and life-saving assistance for the more than 1.3 million civilians, including at least 610,000 children, who are now in the direct line of fire,” according to the statement.

The statement also emphasizes the absence of a viable civilian evacuation plan. Under international humanitarian law, Israel is obligated to ensure the safety and well-being of displaced civilians, yet no safe havens exist within or outside Gaza, the statement notes. Moreover, previous “safe zones” have been targeted by Israeli forces, jeopardizing the lives of civilians and aid workers alike. Israel has denied targeting civilians.

Even as US President Joe Biden issued a statement expressing frustration and outrage over the deaths of the seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza, the administration reiterated its support of Israel’s war against Hamas — while also warning that Israel is not doing enough to protect civilians in the Palestinian enclave.

“We want to see (Israel) do things differently that prevents civilian casualties, absolutely. And that’s been an ongoing conversation that we’ve been having with them for many months,” said John Kirby, a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, “in terms of being more precise, being more targeted, being more cautious.”

Kirby’s comments come after the deaths of the workers who were attempting to deliver food to starving civilians in the besieged enclave — including a dual US-Canadian citizen – which has raised the frustration for Biden and his top officials to a new level, a senior administration official told CNN.

When pressed by CNN’s MJ Lee about whether the White House still supports how Israel is prosecuting the war, Kirby said the administration has been clear and public about its objections but would not go so far as to withdraw its support.

“I want to make it clear that while we take issue with aspects of how operations are being conducted, particularly like saying, quite frankly, publicly, we don’t support a ground operation in Rafah, we also continue to believe and continue to act on the belief that Israel has a right to defend itself against the still-viable threat by Hamas,” Kirby said.

The family of John Chapman, one of the three British nationals killed in an Israeli military strike on an aid convoy in Gaza, said they are “devastated” by his death. 

“We are devastated to have lost John, who was killed in Gaza. He died trying to help people and was subject to an inhumane act. He was an incredible father, husband, son and brother,” the Chapman family said in a statement released through the UK Foreign Office on Wednesday.  

The family of the British citizen, who was a security team member for the nonprofit World Central Kitchen, said he “was loved by many and will forever be a hero.” 

“He will be missed dearly,” the statement added. 

The White House is looking to have an in-person meeting with senior officials from Israel next week on potential military operations in the southern Gaza city of Rafah after holding a virtual meeting earlier this week. 

“I think we’re hoping to get the in-person meeting on the books next week,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters during a briefing on Wednesday. 

Following Monday’s meeting, a US official told CNN that the two delegations discussed the situation in Rafah, and that US officials presented to their Israeli counterparts alternatives to a major ground operation into southern Gaza. 

After the meeting ended, a US official told CNN that US President Joe Biden’s administration had “no expectation” there would be a breakthrough, and the White House saw the meeting as only the latest in a series of discussions that will continue in the coming weeks about a possible Israeli ground offensive into the southern Gaza city.

Monday’s meeting lasted for more than two-and-a-half hours, and those participating from the US side included national security adviser Jake Sullivan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, principal deputy national security adviser Jon Finer and White House Middle East adviser Brett McGurk.

Remember: A previously scheduled meeting was called off by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the United States declined to block a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages held captive by Hamas — signs of the ever-simmering tension between Israel and its most powerful ally.

British aid worker James Kirby, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza, was a caring man and military veteran, according to his family.  

“He was selfless; he would help anybody,” Kirby’s cousin, Adam McGuire, told CNN affiliate ITV on Wednesday.

Kirby was part of the World Central Kitchen’s security team and died in the Israel Defense Forces strike that killed seven aid workers on Monday. He had previously served in the British Armed Forces in Afghanistan and Bosnia, his cousin said.

“He knew the dangers, he was no fool in that regard, but he just knew he had to help people,” McGuire said.

“This is one of the reasons he felt he had to go and work with World Central Kitchen. He knew he had to go, his friends were telling him this was probably a bad place to go, but he knew he had to go and help people and that was James all over, he just didn’t think of himself,” he added.

A deadly Israeli attack that killed seven aid workers from the nonprofit World Central Kitchen (WCK) in Gaza on Monday appears to have consisted of multiple precision strikes, a CNN analysis of aftermath videos and images found.

WCK said in a statement Tuesday that its team was traveling in a “deconflicted zone” in two armored cars and one unarmored vehicle, after dropping off more than 100 tons of food supplies at a warehouse in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, when the attack occurred. The charity said it had coordinated the convoy’s movements with the Israeli military.

CNN geolocated video and imagery of all three destroyed vehicles, at least one of which was clearly marked with a WCK logo on its roof, to two positions on the strip’s Al Rashid coastal road, and a third location on an off-road area of open ground nearby. The first location is around 2.4 kilometers (about 1.5 miles) from the third, indicating that the three vehicles were hit by separate strikes.

The first vehicle, which appeared to have suffered the least damage, was geolocated on Al Rashid street just outside Deir al-Balah. The second car, which was clearly fire damaged with a hole through its WCK-marked roof, was located around 800 meters down the same road. CNN geolocated the third car, which seems to be the “soft skin” or unarmored vehicle referenced in WCK’s statement and appeared to be the most heavily damaged, to an open field 1.6 kilometers from the second car.

Read more about the World Central Kitchen convoy attack.

Family members of the hostages held in Gaza stormed into a gathering of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, on Wednesday. 

Video posted to X by the Knesset showed family members stepping over seats and putting handprints in yellow paint on the glass above the parliament.

Other protesters stood with yellow paint on their hands and held their hands up, the video shows.

Opposition members of the Knesset joined them, chanting “now, now,” according to a statement posted on the official X page.

The protesters left shortly after entering the public gallery, after one man was forcibly removed by security. Some left pictures of hostages on seats, which are still visible on the Knesset’s live feed. 

In January, family members of hostages held in Gaza also entered the Knesset’s main room while members were in session. 

This post has been updated with more details on family members leaving the gallery.

More humanitarian assistance and “proper deconfliction” that would allow the movement of aid within Gaza are essential for those who remain in the enclave, UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron said Wednesday. 

Cameron also denounced the “dreadful events” that led to the death of seven humanitarian workers who were delivering aid, including three British citizens. 

“The dreadful events of the last two days are a moment where we should mourn the loss of these brave humanitarian workers, including the three British citizens that tragically were killed,” Cameron told reporters in Brussels, as he arrived for a summit of NATO ministers.  

Cameron said he welcomes what the Israeli ambassador to London told him on Tuesday about “a full, urgent and transparent inquiry,” after being summoned over the killing of the World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza. “We want to see this happen very, very quickly,” he added.

The foreign minister reiterated his commitment to getting aid into Gaza, saying it was “essential” and that Britain would be watching “very closely” to ensure it happens.

“We have been promised these things before, and it really needs to happen, including longer opening times at the vital crossing points,” Cameron said. 

Former UK security adviser and member of the British House of Lords Peter Ricketts said the country should stop selling weapons to Israel.

“I think there’s abundant evidence now that Israel hasn’t been taking enough care to fulfil its obligations on the safety of civilians,” he said in an interview with BBC radio.

“A country that gets arms from the UK has to comply with international humanitarian law – that’s a condition of the arms export license. So, honestly, I think the time has come to send that signal,” he added.

In response to the remarks, a UK government spokesperson said: “We keep advice on Israel’s adherence to International Humanitarian Law under review and will act in accordance with that advice. All export licence applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria.”

Some background: Last year, Secretary of State for Defense Grant Shapps told the House of Commons that the UK’s “defense exports to Israel are relatively small—just 42 million pounds ($56.7 million) last year,” he said in November 2023, adding that such exports “go through a very strict criteria before anything is exported.”

Four police officers were lightly injured in a car ramming attack early Wednesday morning at a security checkpoint in central Israel, police say. 

The assailant “subsequently continued to the Eliyahu crossing and attempted to stab security personnel who neutralized him,” the statement said, and his death was “determined at the scene.”

The victims were evacuated to hospital, according to Magen David Adam emergency services. 

Police later identified the attacker as a 26-year-old male from the Israeli Arab town of Tira, near the location of the attack. 

Police said the initial investigation ruled out any indication of an accomplice. 

War cabinet minister Benny Gantz has urged calm following “violent” protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

On Tuesday night, some anti-government protesters breached security barriers near Netanyahu’s Jerusalem residence according to social media videos. Israeli media reported several arrests.

“It’s forbidden for us to accept violence from any part, it is forbidden to ignore police directions and breaking barricades, as we saw yesterday night in Jerusalem,” Gantz posted to X, adding that “the unity of the nation is the key to our future.”

Police said while most of the protesters behaved according to the law, some attempted to reach the residence of the prime minister and were arrested. 

While anti-government protests have been held weekly in Tel Aviv, demonstrators have relocated to Jerusalem this week to protest ahead of the Knesset’s recess, calling for new elections and for the government to do more to have the remaining hostages released. 

The top US humanitarian aid official said the deaths of seven World Central Kitchen workers in Gaza, as well as “the deaths of more than 30,000 Palestinians and 200 humanitarian workers in this conflict, are devastating and deeply alarming.”

US Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Samantha Power said she had shared with WCK Founder Jose Andres “deepest condolences to the families, friends, and colleagues of those killed.”

“We acknowledge Israel’s commitment to conduct a comprehensive investigation into how yesterday’s strike occurred, and as President Biden said, that investigation must be swift, it must bring accountability, and its findings must be made public.
But what is clear is that the Government of Israel must do far more to protect aid workers and protect civilians from the unacceptable levels of casualties they continue to experience as a result of IDF military operations,” Power said Tuesday.

Power reiterated that the Israeli government and the IDF “must do much more to facilitate this work.”

“We will continue to press Israel to create the conditions to ensure the safety of humanitarian actors and activities, open additional landcrossings, remove impediments to the delivery of humanitarian aid, and do far more to prevent the killing of humanitarian workers andinnocent civilians,” Power said.

The Israel Defense Forces’ 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.”

World Central Kitchen, that charity that employed the aid workers, 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 the latest headlines from the region:

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 attendee

s. 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.”

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 named the victims:

“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 was 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 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.

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. 

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. 

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.

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 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 that 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.

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.

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 besieged 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 several 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.”

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.

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.