UK govt says reviewing Israel probe into Gaza aid strike

LONDON: The British government on Friday called for “utmost transparency” and a “wholly independent review” into the killings of seven aid workers in the Gaza Strip, as well as lessons to be learned to prevent a reoccurence.

Three of the seven World Central Kitchen staff who died in an Israeli airstrike on Monday evening were British.

“We are carefully reviewing the initial findings of Israel’s investigations into the killing of WCK aid workers and welcome the suspension of two officers as a first step,” Foreign Secretary David Cameron said.

“These findings must be published in full and followed up with a wholly independent review to ensure the utmost transparency and accountability,” he wrote on the social media platform X.

The deaths of the British trio, who were providing security for the US-based humanitarian agency, has heaped pressure on the UK government to suspend arms export licences to Israel.

World powers condemn deadly Gaza air strike on aid workers

According to arms control groups, London has approved more than £487 million ($614 million) of weapons sales to Israel since 2015 in so-called single issue licences.

But companies have exported more under open licences.

British licensing criteria stipulates that weapons should not be exported when there is a “clear risk” they could be used in international humanitarian law violations.

The Israeli military has called the aid workers’ deaths a “tragic mistake” but World Central Kitchen founder Jose Andres has called it a “targeted Israeli strike” on his staff.

Cameron said “lessons must be learned” in the Israeli military about what happened to prevent a reoccurence.

“It’s clear major reform of Israel’s deconfliction mechanism is badly needed to ensure the safety of aid workers.”

The United Nations has warned of “catastrophic” hunger in the Palestinian territory, as Israel hunts down Hamas leaders behind the deadly attacks on Israeli border communities on October 7.

Those raids killed some 1,170 people in Israel, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

The also took some 250 hostages, about 130 of whom remain in Gaza, although the army says 34 are dead.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said more than 33,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have been killed in Israel’s military response.