🔴Live: Israel accused of targeting Gaza aid convoy ‘car by car’

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Israel-Hamas war

Celebrity chef Jose Andres has said that the Israeli military attack, which killed seven of his food aid workers in Gaza, had targeted them "systematically, car by car." Israel has apologised for their deaths, describing them as a "grave mistake". The deadly strike on aid workers has renewed criticism of Israel’s conduct in the nearly 6-month-old war with Hamas. Follow our liveblog for all the latest.

Issued on: 04/04/2024 - 05:55

2 min

Bodies of the foreign humanitarian aid workers in an ambulance as it crosses the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, Wednesday, April 3, 2024.

Summary:

The UK government faced growing pressure Wednesday to suspend arms export licenses to Israel after Monday's air strike killed seven aid workers, including three Britons, in Gaza.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez demanded more details into the deadly attack and said Israel’s explanation for the aid workers' killings was "insufficient and unacceptable".
Israel's defence chief said Wednesday the air strike that killed seven aid workers in Gaza was a "grave mistake".
Israeli objections to the return of displaced Gazans to their homes is the key issue holding up negotiations for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, mediator Qatar said on Wednesday.
The United Nations says the Israel-Hamas war has left almost 200 aid workers dead, including more than 175 members of the UN's staff.
At least 32,975 Palestinians have been killed and 75,577 wounded since Israel began its offensive on Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave. Around 1,140 people were killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks and 250 people taken hostage, according to Israeli figures, with 132 still missing.

Yesterday's key developments:

The United States wants to see the Israeli nvestigation into an attack that killed seven Work Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers wrapped up as soon as possible, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Wednesday.
The Israeli military said that an independent, professional expert body would investigate the deaths of seven people working for the World Central Kitchen in Gaza.
Poland's deputy foreign minister Andrzej Szejna on Tuesday said that Israel should "compensate" the families of the seven aid workers, including a Polish citizen, killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza.
Israel war cabinet member Benny Gantz called for national elections in September in a speech on Wednesday, as Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's government faces pressure at home and abroad over the war in Gaza.

About casualty figures from Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry:

Gaza’s health ministry collects data from the enclave’s hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent.

The health ministry does not report how Palestinians were killed, whether from Israeli airstrikes and artillery barrages or errant Palestinian rocket fire. It describes all casualties as victims of “Israeli aggression”.

The ministry also does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

Throughout four wars and numerous skirmishes between Israel and Hamas, UN agencies have cited the Hamas-run health ministry’s death tolls in regular reports. The International Committee of the Red Cross and Palestinian Red Crescent also use the numbers.

In the aftermath of war, the UN humanitarian office has published final death tolls based on its own research into medical records. The UN's counts have largely been consistent with the Gaza health ministry’s, with small discrepancies.

For more on the Gaza health ministry’s tolls, click here.

(FRANCE 24 with AP)

For more on the Gaza health ministry’s tolls, click here.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP & Reuters)