The White House said it was “heartbroken” after several people working for World Central Kitchen, a US-based aid organisation, were killed in an Israeli military strike in the Gaza Strip, AFP reports.

“We are heartbroken and deeply troubled by the strike,” National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson wrote on social media platform X, adding that “humanitarian aid workers must be protected as they deliver aid that is desperately needed, and we urge Israel to swiftly investigate what happened. “