Ali Abbas Ahmadi
Live reporter

Image source, Reuters

Echoing the concerns raised by a UN official to my colleague earlier, the head of the Norwegian Refugee Council is telling me the system where aid groups co-ordinate with Israeli authorities – known as a deconfliction system – “is now in deep crisis”.

All aid organisations are entirely dependent on Israel to function in Gaza, Jan Egeland explains.

“Nothing can move in and out of Gaza without Israel’s permission,” he says, and adds that this is one of the reasons why too little aid has entered the Palestinian enclave.

The NRC, like all aid groups, informs Israel of the precise movements of its employees, and the locations of their guesthouses and warehouses. The groups, however, get no information from the IDF, says Egeland.

Israeli air strikes hitting the World Central Kitchen convoy demonstrates that “there is a need for a complete reboot in our relations with the Israeli military”, he says.

He highlights that this “appalling attack” is not the only time aid workers have been targeted, pointing out that around 200 have been killed in Gaza since 7 October.

Egeland says that he has reached out to the UN and other NGOs to together set up a functioning deconfliction system.

The one used during the Israel’s 2006 war with Hezbollah - when UN liaison officers were embedded with the IDF - worked well, he says, and hopes something similar can be set up in Gaza.

Deconfliction system in Gaza in crisis, says UN officialpublished at 21:15 British Summer Time 2 April 2024

21:15 BST 2 April 2024

Paul Adams
Diplomatic correspondent, reporting from Jerusalem

A UN official says the Israeli attack which killed seven staff of the charity World Central Kitchen (WCK) is either a "dreadful failure of deconfliction" or evidence that the system that exists now is not fit for purpose.

The official, who has extensive experience in Gaza and asked not to be identified, said that the greatest fear of aid workers is that the Civilian Liaison Administration, the branch of the Israeli military tasked with co-ordinating with humanitarian organisations, "doesn't really have a grip".

What's known as "deconfliction" is a system that allows aid organisations to work in some of the world's hottest conflicts, including Yemen, Ukraine, Syria and Gaza.

It generally takes two forms. One is "notification" - making sure that the relevant military powers know where humanitarian organisations are located (including providing GPS co-ordinates of all facilities) and where vehicles are expected to be moving at any given time on any given day.

"Co-ordination" is a more detailed level, involving real-time communication with the CLA while humanitarian teams are actually on the move.

It's designed to make sure that all military personnel along the route know exactly where vehicles are.

• Continue reading the full story here

The BBC has been able to establish that the names of the three British aid workers killed in the Israeli air strike on a Gaza aid convoy are John Chapman, James Henderson and James Kirby.

Other foreign nationals among the seven aid workers killed came from Poland, Australia, Canada and the US.

We're now bringing you some of the latest scenes from Israel, where anti-government protesters have gathered in front of the Knesset, Israel's Parliament, in Jerusalem for the third day in a row.

Hundreds are calling for the immediate release of hostages, Netanyahu's government resignation and a general election.

Protesters have been demonstrating and have set up hundreds of tents in front of the Knesset, with photos of those still held hostage from 7 October attacks in Gaza.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Earlier we heard from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who said it was "absolutely unacceptable that aid workers were killed by the Israeli Defense Force".

Trudeau said he was "heartbroken" for the families of those killed and for the organisation that is trying to "counter the extraordinarily devastating humanitarian crisis going on in Gaza right now".

He joined calls for a full investigation into the strike and emphasised the need for "clarity on how this happened".

He added that the international community must push "continually towards a ceasefire" so that "no more aid workers are at risk of being killed in the enclave".

Earlier today the World Central Kitchen (WCK) and another US charity it works with, ANERA, announced they were pausing operations in Gaza following the Israeli strike on an aid convoy last night.

The United Arab Emirates is also pausing humanitarian aid efforts through a maritime corridor from Cyprus to Gaza, pending a full investigation into the deaths of the seven WCK aid workers.

Last month, the first maritime humanitarian aid shipment was unloaded on to shore in Gaza, in co-operation with WCK and financed by the UAE.

In a statement, the UAE expressed "profound condemnation" over Israel's strike on the aid convoy.

Image source, EPA

UK Prime Minister Sunak has told Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu that "he was appalled by the killing of aid workers, including three British nationals, in an airstrike in Gaza yesterday", a Downing Street spokesperson says.

Sunak "demanded a thorough and transparent, independent investigation" into the incident, the spokesperson adds.

“The Prime Minister said far too many aid workers and ordinary civilians have lost their lives in Gaza and the situation is increasingly intolerable.

Sunak added that Israel’s aim of defeating Hamas would not be achieved by allowing a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.

Earlier, US National Security Council John Kirby was asked if there was a "red line" when it came to the US providing military assistance to Israel in light of the attack on the aid workers.

You can watch Kirby's reply in the clip above.

US pointed out co-ordination complaints to Israel in pastpublished at 19:38 British Summer Time 2 April 2024

19:38 BST 2 April 2024

Tom Bateman
State Department Correspondent

The co-ordination complaints have been pointed out by the Biden administration - publicly in gentle tones - to Israel since at least January, along with appeals for Israel to get more food to starving people.

Yesterday’s strike, and the impact it will have on further aid supplies, deepens the crisis, with Gaza on the brink of famine.

The White House has just said it is “outraged” by the strikes.

But pressed about whether it would lead to conditioning US arms supplies to Israel, the administration’s reaction hasn’t veered from previous similar messages - which has been to describe this as a tragic incident, point to "deconfliction" problems and the need for more aid access, while calling on Israel to investigate.

Failure of 'deconfliction' a factor in strike on aid staffpublished at 19:35 British Summer Time 2 April 2024

19:35 BST 2 April 2024

Tom Bateman
State Department Correspondent

The American assessment so far, seems to be that a disastrous failure of "deconfliction" is an underlying factor in Israel’s killing of the international aid workers.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken suggested this in his press conference in Paris saying: "Co-ordination has been a perennial problem, deconfliction, as well as other challenges."

Deconfliction is when aid groups coordinate with the parties to a conflict to ensure safe passage for their staff and supplies.

It has been a major issue in Gaza with aid teams complaining Israel has turned back convoys at checkpoints or restricted movement.

The procedures are said to be often unclear, unwieldy and slow. Israel denies it has deliberately prevented deliveries and claims Hamas has tried to exploit supplies.

The White House press briefing has now ended.

Please hang tight as we continue to bring you analysis and reaction from our correspondents and reporters.

Kirby is asked by a journalist whether the Israeli strike on the aid convoy was a mistake.

The journalist tells Kirby that Israeli Ha'aretz newspaper has reported that there was not one strike but three. It said the aid workers got out of their vehicle after the first strike, removed the wounded and tried to move to another vehicle which was struck. Then there was a third strike when they moved to another vehicle, he adds.

Kirby is asked how the second and third strikes could be a mistake, to which he says the investigation will look into the military's decision making process.

"The IDF know it was their mistake and their error. Let them investigate and we will go from there," Kirby says.

Kirby is asked if firing a missile at people delivering food and killing them is a violation of international humanitarian law.

“The Israelis have already admitted that this was a mistake that they made," Kirby says, reiterating that an investigation is being carried out into what happened. “Let’s not get ahead of that.”

He says the question presumes that the Israeli strike against aid workers was deliberate and that they knew what they were hitting, to which he adds, “there’s no evidence of that".

He says that to date, the State Department has not found any incidents where the Israelis have violated international humanitarian law.

Image source, EVN

US National Security Council John Kirby has just been asked if there is a "red line" when it comes to the US providing military assistance to Israel in light of the attack on the aid workers.

"We’ve had this discussion quite a bit," Kirby says to the reporter, before adding that: "They (Israel) are still under a viable threat from Hamas, we are still going to make sure they can defend themselves and that 7 October doesn’t happen again."

"That doesn’t mean it’s a free pass, that we look the other way when something like this happens."

As we've been reporting, one of the aid workers killed in the Israeli air strike on the World Central Kitchen convoy was a dual US-Canadian citizen.

Kirby tells reporters that the State Department has done "some initial outreach" to their family and said there would be more communication with them "at the appropriate time".

Kirby goes on to say that more than 200 aid workers have been killed in the conflict since the war began "making it one of the worst for aid workers in recent history".

"This incident is emblematic of a larger problem and evidence of why distribution of aid in Gaza has been so challenging, " he says.

Beyond the strike, he says what is clear is that the IDF must do "much more to improve deconfliction processes" so that civilians and humanitarian aid workers are protected.

"The US will continue to press Israel to do more as well to ensure the safety of humanitarian workers and will continue to do all we can to deliver this assistance to Palestinian civilians in Gaza."

Image source, EPA

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby says he was "outraged" to learn of the strike that killed aid workers in Gaza.

Speaking to reporters in Washington he says: "We send our deepest condolences to their families and loved ones."

He says he has seen the comments from Israeli officials about their commitment to conduct an investigation.

"As we understand it, a preliminary investigation has been completed today and presented to the army chief of staff," he says, adding that the US will look at the findings but expects a broader investigation to be done "in a swift and comprehensive manner".

He says he hopes there is "appropriate accountability held".

The White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says President Biden has spoken by phone with World Central Kitchen (WCK) founder chef José Andrés and expressed that he was "heartbroken" by the news of the air strike that killed seven of its workers last night.

Biden wanted to "share his deepest condolences and is grieving with the entire WCK family", the press secretary goes on to say.

She says it was important to recognise the contribution the WCK has made to the people of Gaza and to people around the world.

We'll soon be bringing you updates from the White House press briefing, where we're expecting to hear more US response on the Israeli air strike in Gaza that killed seven aid workers - including one US-Canadian dual citizen.

Please stay with us as we bring you the latest updates, as well as analysis from our correspondents.

The World Food Programme's (WFP) county director for Palestine, Matthew Hollingworth, has been telling the BBC about the "massive amount of work" that goes into aid groups organising the simplest of tasks in Gaza in order to reduce risks.

He says this sometimes involves co-ordination with the Israeli military, through what's known as "deconflicting".

This includes providing details from GPS co-ordinates, to descriptions of the places they plan to work.

He said the World Central Kitchen "has been notifying every time its personnel move, and it has been co-ordinating when it’s in very close proximity to front lines and troop movements".

"There is going to have to be a full, very high-level scale investigation by the IDF on what happened, what went wrong. They’re going to have to dissect exactly what they were told and why it wasn’t successful in keeping these humanitarians safe."