'Outraged' Biden says Israel 'not done enough' to protect aid workers in Gaza

Following a strike in Gaza that claimed the lives of seven charity workers, President Joe Biden strongly criticised Israel on Tuesday, claiming that it has not gone far enough in protecting these workers.

“Incidents like yesterday’s simply should not happen. Israel has also not done enough to protect civilians”, Biden said in a statement.

The World Central Kitchen workers’ deaths on Monday, according to Biden, have left him “outraged and heartbroken.” He also stated that it has been challenging to distribute supplies in Palestinian territory “because Israel has not done enough to protect aid workers trying to deliver desperately needed help to civilians.”

In an adamant declaration, Biden stated that Israel’s inquiry into the strike “must be swift, it must bring accountability, and its findings must be made public.”

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Biden and other US officials have expressed growing frustration with Israel as its unrelenting war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip in response to the October 7 Hamas attack sends civilian deaths soaring.

The seven staffers from the US-based food aid charity were killed when a strike hit their convoy in the Gazan town of Deir al-Balah.

Biden said the death of the aid workers was not a “stand alone incident.” The United Nations says the war has left almost 200 aid workers dead.

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“This conflict has been one of the worst in recent memory in terms of how many aid workers have been killed,” Biden said in his statement.

He said the United States will continue to press Israel to let more aid into Gaza and to allow “an immediate ceasefire as part of a hostage deal.”

Israel’s army acknowledged on Wednesday it had committed a “grave mistake.”

Israeli Defense Forces Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, in a message posted on social media platform X, blamed “a misidentification – at night during a war in very complex conditions.”