Three Brits among aid workers killed in Israeli airstrike after delivering food to Gaza

Three of the seven volunteers killed by an Israeli airstrike in central Gaza were British, the American disaster relief nonprofit they worked for said.

The three Britons have yet to be officially named.

Those killed also included an Australian, Polish, Palestinian and a dual citizen of the US and Canada, World Central Kitchen (WCK) said.

The group was leaving a warehouse through a deconflicted zone in central Gaza in two armoured cars branded with the charity’s logo after unloading aid.

The WCK said the Israeli strike that killed the team, who had delivered 100 tonnes of humanitarian food aid, occurred ‘despite coordinating with the IDF’.

Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu admitted his forces launched the airstrike which killed the aid workers, saying it was ‘unintended’ and ‘tragic’.

Graphic footage online showed five of the bodies at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah.

With three having their British, Australian and Polish passports laid on their chests, some volunteers wore protective gear with visible WCK patches.

Tearful mourners, some wearing WCK t-shirts, hugged the bodies as they were placed into body bags.

Erin Gore, the CEO of the nonprofit, said she is ‘heartbroken’ while confirming all relief operations have been ‘paused’ in Gaza.

‘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,’ she said.

‘This is unforgivable.’

Celebrity chef José Andrés, who founded WCK, said the volunteers killed in the IDF airstrike were ‘angels’ he worked alongside in relief efforts in Ukraine, Indonesia and Turkey.

‘They are not faceless… they are not nameless,’ he said on X. ‘The Israeli government needs to stop this indiscriminate killing.’

British prime minister Rishi Sunak has said he is ‘shocked and saddened’ by the death of a British aid worker in Gaza, adding ‘clearly there are questions that need
to be answered’.

A spokesperson for the Foreign Office told Metro.co.uk: ‘We are aware of reports of the death of a British national in Gaza and are urgently seeking further information.’

Australian Anthony Albanese named one of the victims as WCK manager Lalzawmi ‘Zomi’ Frankcom, 44, from Melbourne.

‘We want full accountability for this because this is a tragedy that should never have occurred,’ he told reporters, adding his government has summoned the Israeli ambassador to Australia.

‘The truth is that this is beyond any reasonable circumstances.’

Hani Aburezeq, a journalist based in Gaza, said Frankcom came from Australia to Gaza for humanitarian work.

‘Zomi always had a smile on her face,’ he said on Instagram.

The Polish national killed has been named Damian Soból, with tributes on his Instagram page describing him as a ‘hero’.

The Polish Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement on X that the country ‘objects to the disregard for international humanitarian law and the protection of civilians, including humanitarian workers’.

Wojciech Bakun, the president of the southeastern Polish city of Przemyśl, called Soból an ‘amazing man’.

Saif Issam Abu Taha, who was driving the van and worked as a translator, was also killed in the airstrike, the Palestinian news agency Quds reported.

Video posted by the Sawa News Agency, an independent Palestinian media outlet, showed what was claimed to be the aftermath of the airstrike. A large hole can be seen on the top of the van.

Further footage showed a mangled vehicle, said to be where four of the aid workers were travelling inside, gutted. The seats are stained with blood.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said the effort to recover the bodies ‘spanned several hours’.

‘Two of the bodies were initially missing but were later located and retrieved by the PRCS teams,’ the humanitarian organisation said on X.

Their bodies have since been transferred to the Rafah Border Crossing, the only land crossing into Gaza that Israel does not control.

Professor Ben Saul, UN Special Rapporteur on protecting human rights while countering terrorism, told Al-Jazeera the killing ‘could well be a violation of international humanitarian law’.

‘Under international humanitarian law, if there is a deliberate targeting of any civilian, including humanitarian relief workers, that’s a war crime,’ he said.

Some 179 days into the conflict, the WCK has become a lifeline for people in Gaza, where UN officials warn a famine is imminent and Israel has severely limited the entry of aid.

James Felder, a spokesperson for UNICEF, said the deaths of the aid workers was an ‘immense loss’.

‘Their tireless, lifesaving work is a lifeline to so many cut off in this brutal war. Their deaths are a senseless tragedy,’ he said on X.

‘And another grim reminder of daily threats to civilians and aid workers.’

Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, condemned ‘in the strongest terms’ the attack.

‘This crime confirms once again that the occupation still insists on its policy of systematic killing against defenceless civilians and against international relief teams and humanitarian organizations, as part of its efforts to terrorize their workers, to prevent them from continuing their humanitarian missions,’ the group said in a statement on Telegram.

Israel has barred UNRWA, the main UN agency in Gaza, from making deliveries to the north and other aid groups say sending truck convoys north has been too dangerous because the military failed to ensure safe passage.

Since the war started on October 7, Israeli forces have killed more than 32,000 people, according to Gazan health officials. Nearly 75,400 people have been injured.

This is a developing news story, more to follow soon… Check back shortly for further updates.

Got a story? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected]. Or you can submit your videos and pictures here.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

Follow Metro.co.uk on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news updates. You can now also get Metro.co.uk articles sent straight to your device. Sign up for our daily push alerts here.