Attack on humanitarian community 'unacceptable': UN Food Program executive director

ISTANBUL

The executive director of the UN World Food Program (WFP) said Tuesday that the attack on the "humanitarian community" is "unacceptable."

"I am shocked and heartbroken by the tragic deaths of the @WCKitchen team while delivering lifesaving food aid in Gaza. This attack on our humanitarian community is unacceptable," said Cindy McCain on X.

Her remarks came after seven workers working for the World Central Kitchen were killed on Monday in an Israeli airstrike on their vehicle in the Deir al-Balah city in the central Gaza Strip.

"The safety of aid workers is paramount, as is the safety of those who come to receive aid," she added.

The Israeli military, meanwhile, said it was conducting a thorough review at the highest levels to understand the circumstances of the "tragic" incident.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023 cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas which killed some 1,200 people.

Over 32,800 Palestinians have since been killed and 75,300 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.