What do we know about the air strikes on the aid convoy?published at 18:17 British Summer Time 2 April

18:17 BST 2 April

Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described the attack by the Israeli military on the World Central Kitchen team, which killed seven aid workers, as tragic but unintentional.

“It happens in war,” he said. But the country’s military face some very difficult questions.

The World Central Kitchen team was travelling at night in a clearly marked convoy of three cars, on a coastal road in central Gaza. The organisation said the group had left a warehouse after unloading 100 tonnes of humanitarian aid, and that its movements had been co-ordinated with the Israeli military, precisely to prevent something like what happened: being hit by the Israeli military.

The three cars were hit separately, for reasons that remain unclear. How did an attack like this get carried out?

The air strike has sparked disbelief and anger among other aid organisations and countries whose citizens were among the victims, including the UK, Australia, Poland, Canada and the US, which is Israel’s closest ally.

The Israeli government is already under increasing international pressure because of the way it is conducting its war against Hamas in Gaza, where more than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed and a humanitarian crisis only gets worse. This incident will add even more pressure on the country.

How Israel will investigate the aid charity air strikepublished at 18:06 British Summer Time 2 April

18:06 BST 2 April

Raffi Berg
BBC Online Middle East editor

Image source, EPA-EFE

As we've just reported, Israel will investigate the killing of seven aid workers in an Israeli air strike in Gaza and it will be handled through a special military body set up to examine exceptional incidents.

The so-called Fact Finding Assessment Mechanism (FFA) compiles evidence, which is used by the Military Advocate General (MAG) in deciding whether or not to open a criminal investigation. If the MAG suspects a crime might have been committed, the case will be passed to the Military Police to formally investigate.

Israeli media say the results of a separate, initial probe will be presented to the head of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Lt Gen Herzi Halevi, on Tuesday night and shared with the countries where the victims came from.

Since the start of the war in October, the FFA has opened investigations into several incidents. These include the killings of more than 100 Palestinians (according to the Hamas-run health ministry) during an aid convoy disaster in February; the death of six-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab and five members of her family, also in February; and possible friendly-fire deaths of Israelis when IDF forces opened fire where Hamas gunmen had taken people hostage in Israel on 7 October.

The MAG Corps says since the beginning of the current conflict, the MAG has ordered the opening of criminal investigations in a number of incidents "that raised suspicion of detainee mistreatment, deaths of detainees, pillaging, and the illegal use of force". It says those investigations are ongoing.

Image source, EPA

Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has announced he will establish a "professional investigation team" after an airstrike killed seven aid workers in Gaza, an incident that Israel earlier described as "unintentional".

Gallant posted on the social media platform X, external that the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) will open a "joint situation room" with international aid agencies so they can coordinate on the ground.

He says Israel was "committed" to working with international partners to facilitate the distribution of aid and that it would allocate resources to that end.

Gallant goes on to describe the incident as "tragic" and adds that it "will be investigated thoroughly". The IDF, he says, will update aid agencies on the action it was taking.

James Landale
Diplomatic correspondent

The UK government has summoned the Israeli ambassador in London to the Foreign Office following the deaths of aid workers in Gaza.

The ambassador attended the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Offices where Andrew Mitchell, the minister for development and Africa, "set out the Government's unequivocal condemnation of the appalling killing of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers, including three British Nationals".

"Today, I summoned the Ambassador of the Israeli Embassy in London to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office," Mitchell said, adding that he'd "requested a quick and transparent investigation, shared with the international community, and full accountability".

"I reiterated the need for Israel to put in place an effective deconfliction mechanism immediately and urgently to scale up humanitarian access. We need to see an immediate humanitarian pause, to get aid in and the hostages out, then progress towards a sustainable ceasefire."

Image source, EPA

David Cameron says he spoke with Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz "to underline" the airstrikes that killed seven aid workers from the World Central Kitchen were "completely unacceptable".

Writing on X, external, the UK foreign secretary says: "Israel must urgently explain how this happened & make major changes to ensure safety of aid workers on the ground."

Image source, Reuters

As we head into the afternoon, here are all the latest lines you'll need from this morning to understand what's been going on since seven aid workers were killed by an Israeli air strike Gaza:

• The seven aid workers killed were from the food aid charity, World Central Kitchen (WCK). The group were attacked after leaving a warehouse in Deir al-Balah where they had unloaded more than 100 tons of humanitarian food aid
• According to the NGO, three British civilians were among the seven killed
• Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has said the convoy was hit "unintentionally" and his government will do everything to ensure this does not happen again
• Meanwhile, Netanyahu's office has said they've sent Hamas a new proposal for a truce and hostage release
• PM Rishi Sunak and other senior western officials are condemning the attack and are demanding that questions be answered about the strikes
• The UN relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugee (UNRWA) and other aid agencies have raised concerns about the disruption the strikes and incident will cause to critical aid getting into Gaza
• The head of WCF has described the incident as an "unforgiveable attack"
• Canadian and US officials confirmed that a citizen with dual citizenship was among those killed in the attack

Tom Bateman
BBC News

We're now receiving confirmation from a US official who has said that a US-Canadian dual citizen was among those killed in the Israeli strike on a World Central Kitchen convoy in Gaza.

We'll continue to bring you more updates on this developing story as we get them.

Image source, Reuters

Canada's Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly says she is "horrified" to hear of the Israeli airstrikes that killed seven World Central Kitchen employees, as she confirms a Canadian citizen was among the dead.

In a series of posts on X, external, Joly condemns the strikes and calls for a full investigation.

"Strikes on humanitarian personnel is absolutely unacceptable. International humanitarian law must be respected," she says.

Rushdi Abualouf
Gaza correspondent

Arrangements are being made to transport the bodies of the six foreigners tomorrow morning to Egypt via the Rafah border crossing.

Palestinian Red Crescent Society, in coordination with the International Committee of the Red Cross, will transport the bodies to Egypt.

An official in the Hamas-run Ministry of Health told the BBC that an official funeral will be held in honour of the friends of the people who were killed by the Israeli occupation, in what it called "a complete crime".

The victims were three British, an Australian, Polish, Palestinian and a US-Canadian citizen, the World Central Kitchen charity said.

Image source, PA Media

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer says the deaths of three British aid workers, killed in last night's Israeli air strike in Gaza, are "outrageous and unacceptable".

Starmer calls for international law to be upheld, saying that "we condemn this strike" and there must be "a full investigation and those responsible must be held to account".

"Humanitarian workers put their lives in danger to serve others," he says, and calls for the war to "stop now".

"Far too many innocent people have died in this conflict and more than a million are facing starvation."

Earlier Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was "shocked and saddened" by the incident and that questions needed to be answered.

Image source, Reuters

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Washington is urging Israel to carry out an investigation into the air strike that killed seven aid workers in Gaza.

"We've spoken directly to the Israeli government about this particular incident. We've urged a swift, a thorough and impartial investigation to understand exactly what happened," Blinken tells reporters at a news conference in Paris.

He says the US has impressed upon the Israelis "to do more to protect innocent civilian lives, be they innocent Palestinian children or aid workers".

Rushdi Abualouf
Gaza correspondent

Image source, Reuters

Hundreds of people have mourned Seif Issam Abu Taha, the driver in the World Central Kitchen, who was killed along with the aid workers.

Abu Taha’s body was transported to Rafah, his hometown, where his relatives, colleagues, and friends carried him on their shoulders.

With abundant tears, sadness and anger his close friend Hassan tells me: “He was happy to work with an organisation that provides humanitarian aid to the displaced.

"Our hearts are broken by your death, Seif. You have hurt us with your passing, and we will not forget you.

"We pray for your mercy, Seif, and may God give us patience and give patience to your family and loved ones."

Image source, Seif Issam Abu Taha

Image source, Reuters

Earlier, we reported a second humanitarian organisation in Gaza - the American Near East Refugee Aid (Anera) - has also paused operations, along with the World Central Kitchen (WCK), following last night's Israeli air strike which killed seven aid workers.

The charity's president Sean Carroll says the decision to freeze its operations was not taken easily.

"This (attack) is really, really hard to stomach, to understand. These are our partners, our friends...it's very hard, it's inexplicable, it can't be justified," Carroll tells BBC World Service's Newshour.

"I think the world has to scratch its head and ask really hard questions about how this could happen."

He says it's the first time in 56 years of working in the Palestinian Occupied Territories that it's paused operations.

As we've been reporting, Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski has officially confirmed that Damian Soból was among the seven aid workers from World Central Kitchen killed during the air strike in Gaza.

In this World Central Kitchen video filmed by Reuters, the date of which has not been verified, Soból describes packing water systems and pots for cooking meals in Gaza.

Poland's foreign minister has paid tribute to the aid worker as a "brave compatriot", who, according to his colleagues, had previously assisted Ukrainian refugees at the onset of Russia's full-scale invasion in his hometown of Przemysl.

Three British civilians were among the seven aid workers killed in last night's attack, World Central Kitchen has confirmed.

Stay with us and we'll bring you the latest updates on this as we get them.

The war in Gaza has led to at least 196 aid workers being killed before last night's attack on the seven WCK workers, according to data from the Aid Worker Security Database, external.

Of those killed, 174 have worked for the UN, while aid organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) say at least five of their staff, alongside many of their family members, have been killed.

Jamie McGoldrick, the humanitarian co-ordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, says the recent fatal strike on Gaza is "not an isolated incident".

Describing the Palestinian enclave as "one of the world’s most dangerous and difficult places to work," he says "there is no safe place left in Gaza".

Israel has accused UNRWA of supporting Hamas, which the agency has denied, but in January it sacked nine of the 12 employees accused in an Israeli document of playing a part in the 7 October attacks.

The UN has yet to publish the results of an investigation into Israel's claims.

The head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, Jan Egeland, has been telling the BBC about his recent visit to Gaza where he ate meals with the World Central Kitchen (WCK).

“There is no nobler task," he says. “I saw the good work of these very compassionate people helping the civilian population."

Egeland says WCK had close coordination with the Israeli Defence Forces and always notified them about their movements in what is called a "deconfliction" system.

“This is a war machine totally out of control in Gaza,” he says, adding that more aid workers have been killed in Gaza "than in any other conflict".

Egeland emphasised there are two crossings close to the north of Gaza - the Karni crossing and the Erez crossing - that need to be opened to avoid more risk of famine and disease.

Image source, Reuters

We're now hearing reports that ships carrying some 240 tonnes of aid to Gaza are set to turn around without completing their delivery, Cyprus's foreign ministry has said.

The announcement comes after the aid group World Central Kitchen (WCF) suspended their operations in the Palestinian enclave after an Israeli strike killed seven of its workers.

As we reported earlier, WCK, which has been on the ground for months and which had just brought in a second 400 tonne shipment of aid by sea from Cyprus, is playing an increasingly prominent and important role in preventing Gaza from sliding into famine.

Adam Easton
Warsaw Correspondent

Polish President Andrzej Duda is echoing calls made earlier by several world leaders as he demands an explanation for the deaths of the volunteers killed in the Israeli air strike in Gaza.

"It is with deep pain that I learned about the deaths in the Gaza Strip of the volunteers from the World Central Kitchen organisation, including a Polish citizen. My thoughts are with their loved ones," President Duda posted on X.

"These brave people changed the world for the better with their service and dedication to others. This tragedy should never have happened and must be explained," he adds.

As we reported earlier, Soból is a native of Przemyśl, in south-eastern Poland, and was originally identified by the mayor of the city, Wojciech Bakun.

Soból's colleagues have been posting comments on social media that he had also taken part in delivering aid to Ukrainian refugees following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Adam Easton
Warsaw Correspondent

Image source, Reuters

Poland's foreign minister Radosław Sikorski has said he will speak to his Israeli counterpart, Israel Katz, following the death of Polish aid worker Damian Soból during an Israeli air strike in Gaza.

Sikorski officially confirmed that Soból was among the seven aid workers from World Central Kitchen killed during the strike.

"Our brave compatriot, Mr Damian Soból from Przemyśl, helped people in need in Gaza where there is a humanitarian crisis. He was killed during an attack which the Israeli army has accepted responsibility for," Sikorski said in a video posted on X.

Earlier, Sikorski had said he'd already spoken with the Israeli ambassador to Poland, Yacov Livne, and asked for an urgent explanation into the attack.