GENEVA 

The UN relief chief on Tuesday said that he is "outraged" by the killing of seven members of US-based charity World Central Kitchen (WCK) in Gaza. 

"Outraged by the killing of World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza," said Martin Griffiths, the under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator.

"They were heroes, killed while trying to feed starving people," Griffiths said on X, expressing his condolences to their families and colleagues.

"All this talk about ceasefires, and still this war steals the best of us. The actions of those behind it are indefensible," he said and urged: "This must stop."

The charity had earlier confirmed that seven of its humanitarian aid workers were killed in Monday's Israeli strike in the Gaza Strip.

"The WCK team was traveling in a deconflicted zone in two armored cars branded with the WCK logo and a soft skin vehicle," it said in a statement.

Despite coordinating movements with the Israeli army, the charity added, the convoy was hit as it was leaving the group's warehouse in the southern city of Deir al-Balah, where the team had unloaded more than 100 tons of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza on a maritime route.

"This is not only an attack against WCK, this is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the most dire of situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable," said CEO Erin Gore.

The seven charity workers killed were nationals of Australia, Poland, the UK, and Palestine, as well as a US-Canada dual citizen.