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and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news" ♪ >> this is bbc world news america. the white house adds to a growing chorus of international condemnation of a deadly airstrike on an aid convoy in taza. >> we were outraged to learn about idf strike that killed a number of civilian humanitarian workers yesterday from the world's central kitchen, which has been relentless in getting food to those who are hungry in gaza and around the world. >> three bearish nationals have been named among the seven people killed in the strike. israel said it did not intentionally target the workers. as ukraine and russia trade

attacks, president zelenskyy lowers the age of mobilization by two years in an attempt to bolster forces. ♪ katrina: welcome to world news america. international condemnation is pouring in following monday's israeli airstrike that killed seven people working for the food a charity world central kitchen in gaza. israel said it did not intentionally target the eight workers, but the u.n. criticized what it called a disregard for humanitarian law. the british government summoned the israeli ambassador to the foreign office. prime minister rishi sunak posted on x that israel must explain how the tragic incident happened and take immediate steps to protect eight workers and facilitate humanitarian operations in gaza. mr. sunak described the

situation in gaza as increasingly intolerable in a phone call with netanyahu. the white house says president biden called world central kitchen chief jose andres and commissioned to pressure israel to help aid workers. while the top tipple may in paris had strong words for israel and urged a swift investigation. >> these people are heroes. they run into the fire, not away from it. they show the best of what humanity has to offer when they are -- when the going really gets tough. they have to be protected. we should not have a situation where people who are simply trying to help their fellow human beings for themselves are at great risk. >> israeli president isaac herzog issued a public apology for the strike, while the country's defense minister announced he would establish an

investigation team and said joint forces will open a situation room with international agencies so they can collaborate on the ground. benjamin netanyahu says the world central kitchen convoy was hit unintentionally. >> unfortunately, in the last day, there was a tragic incident of an unintended strike on our forces in the gaza strip. this happens in war. we are checking this thoroughly. we will do everything for this not to happen again. anchor: to morning -- caitriona: the bbc has established the names of the 38 workers killed. another victim was 44 years old and lived in melbourne in australia. per family said she died doing the work she loved. this man, seen here, was from poland. we are told he also helped

deliver aid to ukrainian refugees following russia's invasion. damien is pictured here alongside the palestinian man killed in the airstrike. the palestinian was originally from rafa in gaza. his funeral was held on tuesday. the identity of the seventh victim has not been released, but they are confirmed to be a u.s.-canadian dual citizen. for more, here is our correspondent in jerusalem. reporter: hi, we are at the kitchen -- reporter: they came to feed people from australia, poland, the u.s., and the u.k.. their mission one of the simplest in gaza, one of the hardest and most dangerous. last night, israeli airstrikes hit their convoy, marked with the charity logo of the world central kitchen. seven people killed, including three british nationals. colleagues,

distraught, identified their bodies. these are the people who brought the aid from the sea, he says. they are all dead, all of them. >> it was a direct hit. they tried to treat some of them and put them in another current front, but they shelled it. this is the situation. anyone who brings aid to gaza is at risk of showing and death. correspondent: this is the second shipment of aid that world central kitchen has sent to gaza by c. it was unloaded on a beach and taken to a warehouse. the workers were hit by an airstrike as they left the warehouse in a convoy of three vehicles. >> unfortunately, in the past day, there was a tragic event in which our forces unintentionally harmed noncombatants in the gaza strip. this happens in the war. we are conducting a thorough inquiry and are in contact with

the governments. we will do everything to prevent the recurrence. correspondent: six months into this war, the questions around the killing of civilians are getting sharper. this was a clearly marked aid convoy, passing through an area without heavy fighting under israeli control. aid agencies say coordinating safe passage with the israeli army in gaza is cumbersome and time-consuming, but it is this kind of event that it is designed to avoid. the u.n. says it has been warning about something like this for months. >> we have got people in these very dangerous situations, moving around without any collaboration between the different groups. there were telephone calls last night from world central kitchen trying to make connections, and it was not possible. correspondent: so you are moving around, no communication between teams. why not? >> the israelis say we should not have communications equipment, because if they do, they could be taken and used by

hamas. i think it is a poor excuse. correspondent: the killing of british nationals sparked calls from across government for an urgent explanation. >> shocked and saddened to hear the reported deaths of eight workers in gaza, without any working to confirm all the details, but my thoughts right now are with their friends and family. we are asking israel to investigate what happened urgently, because there are clearly questions that need to be answered. correspondent: the first of the victims was buried today without those answers. a local man. gaza, already a word for grief, is morning tonight for those who saved lives and paid for their own. caitriona: there are now fears that access to aid will be stalled after monday's attack, and it is not the first time humanitarian efforts have come under fire in this war. since the war broke out, at

least 196 aid workers have been killed in gaza. a majority work for the united nations agency for palestinian refugees. on october 7, 1200 people were killed and 250 three people taken hostage upon hamas watched its attack on southern israel. since then, gaza's hamas run health ministry says 32,916 people have been killed in gaza. some of the eight workers killed previously were with doctors without borders. just before coming on air, i spoke to the secretary-general, who recently returned from a trip to gaza. thanks for joining us. with the news that 78 workers with world central kitchen have been killed in gaza, they suspended their operations. are you considering suspending your operations or pulling your teams from the region? >> i would like to start by sending my condolences and the

condolences of everybody for this tragic event that has happened in gaza just a few hours ago. a number of us have suffered tragic incidents in gaza over the last few months. the rate of incidence for humanitarian workers has been catastrophic. we are working at a very high-risk environment, day by day assessing the risk to our teams on the ground. we will factor what happened last night in gaza with world central kitchen. currently our teams remain on the ground in gaza. caitriona: three vehicles were printed with world central kitchen logos. their movements have been coordinated with the idf. will you have to make changes to how your doctors and members operate? christopher: i think we are in the situation where, i have spoken directly with the israeli authorities on this issue myself, and we have, as you say,

we move in convoys which are marked. we have staff shelters that are also marked. we had an incident in october where a convoy of ours was attacked and we had people killed, and we also had something hit by a tank. also notified in terms of their location. it is a tragic pattern that we have been signing the alarm bell now for months. either it is intentional or it is a sign of severe misconduct. caitriona: the aid workers were not the only people killed in gaza yesterday. the ap reporting that eight children and eight adults were killed in israeli airstrikes in rafa. you are just back from gaza yourself. i want to talk to you about the health care situation. we are seeing footage from northern gaza showing a lot of damage after the recent israeli operation.

another hospital bound just a couple days ago. how would you characterize what you sought the hospitals you visited? christopher: it is desperate. i was at the hospital just two weeks ago, stood meters away from where that blast occurred. the hospital is an amazing sight. there are patients lining both sides of the corridor. you have to tread carefully to make sure you don't injure anybody as you are walking around. also, we are seeing rising rates of malnutrition, to the point where medics are having to make decisions in terms of whether they give beds to those who are wounded ornate trauma care, or to kids who are seeking treatment for non-nutrition. caitriona: israel says it is launching operations on those medical compounds because israel believes there are hamas operatives in some of these premises. did you see any evidence of that yourself? christopher: we have not seen evidence ourselves.

i will say that israeli comes in the question, the principle of proportionality. we have seen repeated destruction and isolation of health facilities all around the gaza strip, up to the point where the second largest hospital in the gaza strip and many others are out of service. we are down to around 30% of our facilities which are operational to some degree at the moment. the gaza strip requires additional medical services before this war, and now we are in a situation where the injuries we are seeing are catastrophic for men, women, and children. a huge depletion of health care services in the gaza strip. caitriona: how do your members operate in that situation? christopher: it is extremely difficult, and there are many areas of the strip we cannot operate in. most of our operations are in the rafa area in the south, which is currently, as you know,

under threat from a ground invasion. having spent most of my time in rafa, i can't imagine a scenario which is not utterly catastrophic because of the density of population. but in general, we move and work around gaza, but we can with a great deal of caution. there are areas in the north of gaza where we cannot operate. it is extremely difficult to take movements, take vehicles up to and north of the gaza strip. the north of the gaza strip is a siege within a siege. it is desperate in terms of health care but also in terms of the food and nutrition situation. our staff we have remaining are reporting to us that they are mixing what human food they can with animal food just to be able to survive. caitriona: on that point of starvation, of malnutrition, if some agencies are deciding it is too dangerous to have people on the ground, sufficient aid is not currently permitted to enter gaza at all, how critical are those eight air drops that we are seeing for the civilians of

gaza who do not have the option to leave like some of the eight workers do, but who are barely surviving themselves? christopher: the point i would make in terms of supply coming into the gaza strip, firstly there needs to be a lot more. there needs to be a lot more coming in through the border crossings, through the rafa border crossing, but we need border crossings opened in the north as well. but it is much more than simply counting trucks crossing the border, which is a little bit as it is being characterized. it is also about moving supplies around the strip and having facilities and safety to be able to deliver food distributions, yes, but also medical care. in my mind, air drops, which any aid worker will tell you are incredibly efficient and in this case a dangerous way for providing assistance, air drops are not an indicator of successful humanitarian assistance. they are an admission that humanitarian assistance is not getting through to where it is needed. caitriona: on that point, why do

you think the international community is failing to have a greater level of influence to get more aid in in the traditional way? christopher: what we have seen here is a population under siege, a population which is facing starvation. i would reiterate or remind the ruling from the international courts of justice back in january, one of the pillars of that ruling was that there needs to be a scale of humanitarian assistance. we are not seeing that. with my eyes on the ground, it is clear that it is very hard to be able to provide basic medical humanitarian assistance. i would call on all states, with the capacity to influence diplomatic or political pressure on israel to use that pressure to assure that human entering assistance, which they are allowed to provide, be allowed -- that humanitarian assistance,

which they are allowed to provide, be allowed into the gaza strip. caitriona: thank you so much for talking with us, christopher. thank you. as real maintains it is doing what it can to ensure aid -- israel maintains it is doing what he can to ensure aid gets to gaza, but the israeli government is facing dissent and protest from its own citizens over the response to the hamas attacks. thousands of protesters gathered in jerusalem for the third day on tuesday, calling for early elections and the deal to secure the release of dozens of hostages still held in gaza by hamas militants. nearly six months of conflict have renewed divisions over the leadership of prime minister benjamin netanyahu, but the country remains largely in favor of the war. negotiations between israel and hamas on hostage resolicit -- hostage releases in action for a cease-fire remains stalled. meanwhile, palestine is saying they are relaunching their bid to become a full member state of

the u.n. to discuss all this, let's speak to the center vice president of the center for strategic and international studies, and the director of their middle east program. ask for joining us on bbc news. good to talk to you. in discussing the deaths of the 78 workers, we cannot forget the 1200 israelis killed or the tens of thousands of palestinians killed since october 7. but what sort of pressure does this latest incident put on the joe biden-benjamin netanyahu relationship? john: it is interesting, if you look at the israeli press in hebrew, it had very little of the news stories we had been seeing in the west, either about concern for humanitarian suffering in gaza or even about senator schumer's critical speech about benjamin netanyahu, about tensions with joe biden. that was sort of all below the surface.

israelis were talking about their suffering, their insecurity, their heroes, there need to win this war. the attack on the workers from world central kitchen has changed that dynamic profoundly. i think israelis went yesterday from thinking that anybody who is helping palestinian civilians is aiding and abetting the enemy of israel and people who hate israel to come our whole world position is maybe up for grabs, because people from australia and the u.k. and poland, friends of israel, were killed and the governments were more critical. the u.s. is more critical. i think you have seen the humanitarian issue in gaza turn from something israelis were unwilling to talk about to something israelis now feel they need to talk about. caitriona: if the weapons being given to israel by allies, like the u.k. and the u.s., are actually being used on aid work

is, that puts immense -- eight workers, that puts immense domestic pressure on those leaders. jon: i cannot speak to how polarized to the u.k. is, although my sense is it is quite polarized -- certainly the u.s. is very polarized on this issue -- i think that from a u.s. government perspective, the biden administration's presumption is going to remain giving israel what it means to defend itself against combatants, but you absolutely cannot be attacking civilians, attacking relief workers. this issue of d confliction is something that the relief organizations have been raising with me for months. the israelis have said we are doing it, there is not a problem . clearly now there is a problem. i think we are going to see in the coming days, israel will be acting differently both with the de-confliction task, but also ways to bring food into gaza, because world central kitchen is not going to be feeding hundreds of thousands of people every day

from now on. caitriona: what does this all mean for those talks that say releasing the hostages and except for a temporary cease-fire which is stalled at this point? jon: the initial israeli response was hamas is going to see this as good news because it puts more pressure on israel. i am not sure it affects those talks, but it adds to a volatile mix in israel. there are opponents of benjamin netanyahu from the right, from the left, from the religious, from the secular. he is navigating an increasingly treacherous political space in israel, and i think this makes the political space a little bit more difficult, more treacherous. i do not think it is decisive, but it makes it more difficult for him. caitriona: jon alterman, director for the middle east program at the center for strategic and international studies, thank you for joining us. iran vowed revenge for reported

israeli strike on monday that destroyed an iranian consulate building in syria and killed top military commanders. iranian state television reported that seven guards, including two generals, have been killed. afterward, protesters took to the streets of terror ran, calling for -- of tehran, calling for a stronger military response. monday's attack is seen as a serious escalation that may raise the risk of a border conflict -- broader conflict in the middle east. u.s. president joe biden and his chinese counterpart xi jinping spoke by telephone on tuesday, the first direct conversation between the leaders since their summit in california in november, when they agreed to establish regular dialogue. today's call lasted an hour and 45 minutes. the white house described the call as kindred and constructive, though the two leaders appeared to express different views on taiwan,

chinese support for russia, and tech restrictions related to the apps tiktok. a missile attack damage to kindergarten in a ukrainian city on tuesday, injuring 13 people, including five children. russia has stepped up its use of ballistic missiles recently, knocking out energy infrastructure across ukraine. president volodymyr zelenskyy signed a bill into law on tuesday that lowers ukraine's draft age by two years. from 27 to 25. president zelenskyy says he hopes this will hold ukraine over as it waits for more funding from the u.s. in the netherlands, leaders gathered for the restorative justice for ukraine conference. ukrainians can now file claims for damages at the hague. our correspondent explains. correspondent: this is one of the most tangible elements to emerge from this monday peace conference. the creation of a reparations

mechanism that will enable the survivors in ukraine to access the financial means to rebuild their lives. it will start with damage and instruction to residential properties, but the scheme will be expanded so that people who have suffered as a result of rape, torture, the loss of a loved one, or forced displacement will also be able to apply. but in the future, it will be about rebuilding ukraine itself. the power supplies, the schools, the hospitals. that means the ukrainian state and companies will be able to apply for compensation in order to rebuild the critical infrastructure. this is just one small part of what is an extremely complex picture of what restorative justice will look like for ukraine. the ukrainian foreign minister

is among the delegates here at the world forum in the hague. he told then that justice for ukraine needs to happen now, not in the distant future. but he described the creation of this reparations mechanism as a first material step. caitriona: before we go, it is a new era for taylor swift, who entered the forum -- the forbes world billionaires list for the first time, with $1.1 billion. she now ranks among the world's wealthiest people, including tesla founder elon musk and chatgpt sam altman. the publication reports that swift is the only musician to reach the position with earnings based solely on her music and live performances. looks like she is making billionaires status, tailor's version. you can keep up-to-date with all of the day's news on our website, bbc.com/news, and you can keep up-to-date also on your favorite social media sites on

the bbc accounts there. that is it for today. i'm katrina perry. thank you so much for watching world news america. take care. announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james. bdo. accountants and advisors. cunard is a proud supporter of public television. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: on the newshour tonight, israel excepts responsibility for strike that killed seven world kitchen workers. amna: and