Poland demands explanation from Israel for aid workers killed in Gaza

A person holds the passports belonging to deceased officials of the US-based international volunteer aid organization World Central Kitchen (WCK), following an Israeli attack on a WCK vehicle in Deir Al-Balah. Omar Ashtawy/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Warsaw has demanded an explanation from Israel after the death of seven aid workers, including a Polish national, in an air strike in the centre of the Gaza Strip.

"We have requested an explanation from the Israeli embassy, the security forces and the Israeli military," a Foreign Ministry spokesman said in Warsaw, adding that the ministry was currently relying on information from the World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid organization and the media.

"We know that the attack took place in the northern central part of the Gaza Strip, and that a Polish national was among the people who died," he said. He expressed the ministry's condolences to the man's relatives.

Wojciech Bakun, mayor of Przemyśl, the home city of the dead Polish man named the aid volunteer and said: "There are no words to describe the feelings of people who knew this amazing young man right now... May he rest in peace," he posted in English on Facebook.

Many Ukrainian refugees have passed through Przemyśl, which lies close to the Ukrainian border, and WCK has assisted many of them.

A person holds the passports belonging to deceased officials of the US-based international volunteer aid organization World Central Kitchen (WCK), following an Israeli attack on a WCK vehicle in Deir Al-Balah. Omar Ashtawy/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa