The fatality rate for aid workers in Gaza is worse than in other recent wars, US President Joe Biden said in a statement he published mourning the death of seven aid workers from World Central Kitchen during an IDF airstrike.
“I am outraged and heartbroken by the deaths of” the aid workers, in Gaza including one American,” Biden said in a statement the White House issued last night.
“They were providing food to hungry civilians in the middle of a war. They were brave and selfless. Their deaths are a tragedy,” he said.
“Even more tragically, this is not a stand-alone incident,” Biden stated.
Israel has taken responsibility for the strike and has pledged to conduct an independent and transparent investigation.
“That investigation must be swift, it must bring accountability, and its findings must be made public,” Biden said.
He noted, however, that the death of these aid workers was not an isolated incident in the Israel-Hamas war that began on October 7. According to the United Nations, 196 humanitarian workers have been killed, the majority of whom were UN staff members.
The Israel-Hamas war, Biden said, “has been one of the worst in recent memory in terms of how many aid workers have been killed.”
Challenges of distributing humanitarian aid
“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.
“Incidents like yesterday’s simply should not happen. Israel has also not done enough to protect civilians. The United States has repeatedly urged Israel to deconflict their military operations against Hamas with humanitarian operations, in order to avoid civilian casualties.”
His words come as Israel and the United States have been at odds over Israel’s pending military operation in Rafah, where over 1.3 million Palestinians are located.
American officials are concerned that Israel’s plan does not do enough to ensure the protection of Palestinian civilians and has argued that the IDF should carry out targeted strikes to destroy Hamas in Rafah, rather than a full-scale military operation.
“The United States will continue to do all we can to deliver humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians in Gaza, through all available means. I will continue to press Israel to do more to facilitate that aid,” Biden said.
He noted that the US was “pushing hard for an immediate ceasefire as part of a hostage deal. I have a team in Cairo working on this right now.”
Biden said he spoke with WCK founder Chef José Andrés, to express his condolences and “continued support for his and his team’s relentless and heroic efforts to get food to hungry people around the globe.”