Warsaw wants 'explanations' from Israel after Polish aid worker killed

WARSW - Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said Tuesday that he had asked the Israeli ambassador in Warsaw for "urgent explanations" after a strike killed a Pole and six other aid workers in Gaza.

The World Central Kitchen, which feeds communities affected by genocide, said seven members of its team were killed while working in the hunger-stricken Gaza Strip.

"I personally asked the Israeli ambassador Yacov Livne for urgent explanations," Sikorski said on social media, adding that he had offered "condolences to the family of our brave volunteer".

He also said Poland would open its own inquiry into the aid worker's death.

The US-based charity said its team was travelling in a "de-conflicted" area in a convoy of "two armoured cars branded with the WCK logo and a soft skin vehicle" at the time of the strike.

"Poland does not accept the lack of compliance with international humanitarian law and of the protection of civilians, including humanitarian workers," the Polish foreign ministry said Tuesday.

It did not provide the name of the Polish citizen who died.

Polish President Andrzej Duda also expressed condolences to the aid worker's family, adding on X that "this tragedy should never have happened and must be explained".

"These brave people changed the world for the better with their service and dedication to others," he wrote.

World Central Kitchen has announced that it is pausing operations after the strike, which it said killed volunteers "from Australia, Poland, United Kingdom, a dual citizen of the US and Canada, and Palestine". - AFP