Several aid workers killed in Israeli strike on Gaza

An Israeli strike killed several people delivering food aid to the besieged Gaza Strip on Monday, their organisation said, with the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory reporting that four of them were foreigners.

"Today, World Central Kitchen lost several of its sisters and brothers in an Israeli army strike in Gaza," said the NGO's founder, chef Jose Andres.

World Central Kitchen, a US-headquartered organisation, called the incident a "tragedy" and reiterated that "humanitarian aid workers and civilians should never be a target".

According to the health ministry in Gaza, the bodies of four foreign aid workers and their Palestinian driver were brought to a hospital in the town of Deir el-Balah after an Israeli strike targeted their vehicle.

Hamas said the aid workers included "British, Australian and Polish nationalities, with the fourth nationality not known".

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed one of his country's citizens, volunteer Zomi Frankcom, was among those killed.

World Central Kitchen is one of two NGOs spearheading efforts to deliver aid to Gaza by boat from Cyprus. It is also involved in the construction of a temporary jetty in the coastal territory.

At the Al-Aqsa Hospital, an AFP correspondent saw five bodies with three foreign passports lying nearby.

"We are heartbroken and deeply troubled by the strike that that killed @WCKitchen aid workers in Gaza," White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson posted on social media platform X. "Humanitarian aid workers must be protected as they deliver aid that is desperately needed, and we urge Israel to swiftly investigate what happened."

The Israeli military said it was "conducting a thorough review at the highest levels to understand the circumstances of this tragic incident".

Israel has come under immense international pressure to increase the flow of humanitarian aid into the strip after six months of war and stark warnings from the United Nations about the dire levels of hunger stalking all 2.4 million Gazans.

A UN-backed report warned on March 19 that half of Gazans were feeling "catastrophic" hunger and projected imminent famine in the territory's north.