3 British aid workers confirmed killed in Israeli airstrike

LONDON

Three of the seven humanitarian aid workers killed by an Israeli airstrike on the Gaza Strip were UK citizens, World Central Kitchen confirmed on Tuesday.

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

Three were British citizens, UK daily The Guardian reported, citing the charity.

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

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: "We're asking Israel to investigate what happened urgently, because clearly there are questions that need to be answered.”

“We've urged a swift, thorough, and impartial investigation to understand exactly what happened," said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, decrying the “record number of humanitarian workers who have been killed in this particular conflict."

The aid group said that despite coordinating movements with the Israeli army, 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.

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

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