Professor Ben Saul, UN special rapporteur on protecting human rights while countering terrorism, said Israel’s reported killing of the World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza could be a violation of international humanitarian law and a war crime.

“It’s a human tragedy. But, of course, it could well be a violation of international humanitarian law, under which Israel has a duty not to deliberately target humanitarian relief workers or their convoys or their relief consignments,” Saul told Al Jazeera.

“[Israel] also has a wider duty to ensure the safety of humanitarian workers in a conflict zone; to ensure their freedom of movement and to coordinate with them so that these kinds of tragedies never happen,” he said.

“Under international humanitarian law, if there is a deliberate targeting of any civilian, including humanitarian relief workers, that’s a war crime. If there is a targeting of a military objective, which causes excessive civilian casualties in the area, that would be a war crime. Or if it is an indiscriminate attack,” he added.

“Obviously, given the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the free passage of humanitarian relief is absolutely essential and just last week the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to open more land crossings, precisely because over a million Palestinians in Gaza are currently facing catastrophic levels of hunger, according to the United Nations.”