Poland asks Israel for explanation after aid worker killed in Gaza

Palestinians stand next to a vehicle where employees from the World Central Kitchen (WCK), including foreigners, were killed in an Israeli airstrike, according to the NGO as the Israeli military said it was conducting a thorough review at the highest levels to understand the circumstances of this “tragic” incident, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza, Strip April 2, 2024. REUTERS/Ahmed Zakot

WARSAW — Poland’s foreign minister asked the Israeli ambassador in Warsaw for “urgent explanations” after a Polish volunteer was killed while providing aid in Gaza.

Citizens from Australia, Britain and Poland were among seven people working for celebrity chef Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen who were killed in an Israeli airstrike in central Gaza on Monday, the NGO said.

“I personally asked the Israeli ambassador @YacovLivne for urgent explanations,” Radoslaw Sikorski wrote on social media platform X.

READ: ‘Several’ aid workers killed in Israeli strike in Gaza: NGO leader

“He assured me that Poland would soon receive the results of the investigation into this tragedy. I join in my condolences to the family of our brave volunteer and all civilian victims in the Gaza Strip.”

The Israeli military has said it is doing a thorough review at the highest levels to understand the circumstances of what it called a tragic incident. It said it made extensive efforts to enable the safe delivery of humanitarian aid.

The president of the city of Przemysl, in southeastern Poland, identified the volunteer as Damian Sobol.

“Yesterday, our colleague, resident of Przemysl, volunteer, member of the World Central Kitchen team – Damian Sobol, was killed in a rocket attack by Israeli forces on a humanitarian convoy delivering food in the Gaza Strip,” he wrote on Facebook.

“There are no words to describe what people who knew this fantastic guy feel at this moment … May he rest in peace.”