White House says Biden is ‘frustrated’ with Netanyahu but won’t confirm if president will call Israeli Prime Minister after deaths of World Central Kitchen aid workers

President Joe Biden is frustrated with Israel after the strike that killed World Central Kitchen aid workers, but the White House will not say whether he will call Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to express his disappointment.

When National Security Council spokesman John Kirby was asked about the president’s thoughts on the attack, he said, “I think you could sense the frustration in that statement yesterday.”

Biden described himself as “outraged and heartbroken” in his statement condemning the attack. He also called for an investigation into the incident.

Leaders around the world were outraged when World Central Kitchen aid workers were killed in an Israeli drone strike

Kirby said the government would let Israel complete its investigation into the incident and read out its conclusions.

“They have already admitted to carrying out this strike. “They’ve already said publicly that it’s their fault for this strike, and they’re working their way through the specific findings and details and I think we need to let them finish that work and talk about it themselves,” he told reporters on Wednesday .

He also pointed out, “I don’t think you can look at what we’ve said, what we’ve done, or even the President’s statement last night and say that we are somehow in every respect the Israel made it easy. .’

The relationship between Biden and Netanyahu has become increasingly tense as Israel’s war against Hamas continues. The government is under intense pressure at home and abroad to ensure the safety of aid workers and deliver crucial supplies to the Palestinian people, many of whom face famine.

But on Tuesday, Biden joined a chorus of world leaders outraged by the drone strikes that killed WCK aid workers in Gaza, including one American.

Biden said Israel “has not done enough to protect aid workers trying to provide desperately needed assistance to civilians” as thousands of Palestinians find themselves in the crosshairs of war and left without food, water and other necessary supplies.

The president called for a “swift” investigation to bring accountability for what he said was not an “isolated incident.”

Israel apologized for what it called “a serious mistake” and said it was investigating the incident.

International outrage followed after World Central Kitchen’s convoy of aid workers was hit by an Israeli ‘triple tap’ drone strike on Monday, killing seven. The three cars were marked as humanitarian aid and were hit while traveling along a route approved by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

President Joe Biden is calling for an investigation and accountability after an Israeli drone strike killed seven aid workers in Gaza on Monday. Dual US-Canadian citizen, 33-year-old Jacob Flickinger (right), was one of seven killed in the IDF drone strike

The American killed in the attack was Jacob Flickinger, 33, who had dual Canadian citizenship.

A GoFundMe fundraiser set up to help Flickinger’s partner Sandy and their one-year-old son notes that he had been an aid worker in Gaza since early March, working for World Central Kitchen and before that was on a mission with the organization in Mexico.

The money raised through GoFundMe is intended to help Flickinger’s family “restore themselves after his tragic death.” It is claimed that Flickinger was the ‘sole financial provider’ and that the money will help set up a trust for his son, as well as flight and funeral arrangements.

Also among those killed in the attack were three veterans of the British Armed Forces who served as security for the relief mission: John Chapman, 57, James (Jim) Henderson, 33, and James Kirby, 47.

Other aid workers killed in the strike included 25-year-old Palestinian Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha; Australian Lalzawmi (Zomi) Frankcom, 43; Damian Soból, a 35-year-old from Poland.

People carry the body of one of the foreign workers from World Central Kitchen killed in the airstrike as the bodies are transported to their families outside Gaza

American-Canadian Jacob Flickinger, 33, who was one of seven victims of the strike

British military veterans James Henderson, 33, (centre), John Chapman, 57, (left) and James Kirby, 47, (right) were traveling in the World Central Kitchen aid convoy to provide meals to Palestinians in Gaza when they were hit and killed by missiles fired from an IDF drone

Polish World Central Kitchen aid worker Damian Sobol, 35 (left) and Australian aid worker Lalzawmi (Zomi) Frankcom, 43 (right) were among those killed in the Gaza strike

Palestinian Saifeddine Issam Ayad Abutaha, 25, was part of the WCK team killed in the attack

World leaders from the countries of the deceased have expressed their anger at Israel over the “outrageous” drone attack on the World Central Kitchen aid convoy.

Britain summoned the Israeli ambassador to London and demanded ‘full responsibility’ for the deaths. The British government is also considering suspending arms sales to Israel if an investigation reveals wrongdoing, internal sources have reportedly said.

Some progressive lawmakers in the United States have called on Biden to suspend aid to Israel, which seems unlikely.

The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza claims that 32,000 people have been killed in the conflict since the terrorist organization invaded Israel on October 7.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the seven victims in the WCK aid convoy “join a record number of humanitarian workers who have died in this specific conflict.”

“We cannot have a situation where people who are just trying to help their fellow human beings are themselves in great danger,” he said on Tuesday.

“These people are heroes,” Blinken said of the first responders. “They run into the fire and don’t move away from it. They showcase the best of what humanity really has to offer when the going gets tough. They must be protected.’

At least 196 aid workers, including 175 members of the UN staff, have been killed in Gaza, according to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called the strike “unconscionable” but “an inevitable consequence of the way the war is being waged.”

“It once again demonstrates the urgent need for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.”