Joe Biden has addressed the deaths of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza. On Tuesday, the US president phoned chef José Andrés to express his condolences after the nonprofit group workers were killed Monday in an Israeli airstrike. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a press briefing that Biden has “conveyed he is grieving with the entire World Central Kitchen family.”
Joe Biden calls chef José Andrés to express his grief
The White House press secretary revealed that Biden has been left heartbroken by the tragic deaths of the nonprofit group volunteers. Jean-Pierre went on to add, “The president felt it was important to recognize the tremendous contribution World Center Kitchen has made to the people in Gaza and people around the world. The president conveyed he will make clear to Israel that humanitarian aid workers must be protected.”
John Kirby, the spokesman for the National Security Council, was also present at the press briefing. Kirby told reporters that the Biden administration is “outraged” by the merciless airstrike, which Israel claimed unintentionally killed the seven aid workers. He added that Israel must carry out a military investigation on the killings “in a swift and comprehensive manner,” per USA Today.
“We hope that those findings will be made public and that there is appropriate accountability,” Kirby continued, adding that over 200 aid workers have been killed in Gaza so far, amid the Israel-Hamas war. He said that the “incident is emblematic of a larger problem and evidence of why distribution of aid in Gaza has been so challenging.”
“The U.S. will continue to press Israel to do more as well to ensure the safety of humanitarian workers, and we’ll continue to do all we can to deliver this assistance to Palestinian civilians in Gaza,” Kirby declared, per NBC News.
