Following the death of seven aid workers from World Central Kitchen, a humanitarian relief agency operating in Gaza, Israel faces global repercussions as the home nations of the workers, as well as the U.N., call for accountability measures. The WCK workers were returning after transporting around 100 tons of food along a common humanitarian corridor within Gaza, when an airstrike destroyed their labeled trucks, killing everyone within. Immediately following the announcement of the attack, public outrage began to flood news outlets and social media. Soon after, Israel released a statement, calling the strike a “mistake”. In response, Biden, alongside other foreign leaders, demanded that Israel ensure improved treatment of aid workers in Gaza. 

The U.N. Human Rights Office spokesperson, Jeremy Laurence, claimed that “Attacking people or objects involved in humanitarian assistance may amount to a war crime”, the day following the attack.  He further explained that international law requires the protection of aid workers, an assertion that appears in stark contrast to the death toll of nearly 200 aid workers in Gaza in these past six months. Biden mirrored this critical sentiment in a statement containing some of his harshest words used about Israel since the advent of the conflict. He decries Israel’s actions, writing that the “conflict has been the worst in recent memory in terms of how many aid workers have been killed… Israel has not done enough to protect aid workers trying to deliver desperately needed help to civilians… Israel has also not done enough to protect civilians”. His clear displeasure with Israel’s recent actions indicates a turning point in the conflict.

With a death toll nearing 35 thousand, the Gaza conflict has become the largest single cause of Palestinian death in their history. The killing of aid workers further endangers the starving civilian populations within Gaza by discouraging many large aid organizations from further action in the region. The current treatment of aid workers within Gaza has prompted the withdrawal of much aid and an inability to penetrate the region with a sufficient amount of support. To ensure that civilian casualties do not increase past their already deplorable levels, Israel must end their attacks against aid convoys, by threat of reduced support from many allied nations. Poland, one of Israel’s significant allies, has levied demands for better treatment of aid workers in Gaza following the death of one of their citizens in the WCK attack. With many of Israel’s backers calling for better handling of the conflict, the best path forward is one grounded in diplomatic peace talks and the protection of aid into the region, not indiscriminate killing and impunity.

The past few months have seen an intensification of Israeli strikes in Gaza, accompanied by overwhelming Israeli public support of the war. Yet, global sentiments have been changing in the face of U.N. legal cases against Israel, news coverage of the inhumane conditions in Gaza, and heightening calls for a ceasefire. Furthermore, Human Rights Watch has just condemned Israel’s weaponization of starvation as a war crime, following a U.N. investigation into the prominence of hunger in Gaza. It found that an estimated 70% of the population in Gaza is experiencing catastrophic hunger, and famine is likely to occur even with increased aid. Children are at greatest risk of death under these conditions. Such condemning reports do not bode well for global support of Israel. 

As the conflict in Gaza continues to deeply impact the livelihoods of Palestinians, a foreign focus on ensuring the proper treatment of civilians and aid workers by the Israeli military is of utmost importance. Public pressure is a powerful tool that can be used to increase much-needed medical and nutritional support for Gaza. World leaders have been positively responding to such cries for justice, and have begun to use their diplomatic influence on the Israeli state. Now, it is time to continue such pressure until a ceasefire and sustainable peace may occur.