© AFPA vehicle of the World Central Kitchen NGO destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in the city of Deir al-Balah in the Gaza Strip.
All of the group's operations in the Palestinian enclave have been suspended following the Monday incident, it added.
Five fatalities were reported initially as a result of the airstrike, but WCK announced an updated death toll in a statement on Tuesday. The victims include a dual US-Canadian citizen, three Palestinians, an Australian, a Pole and a British national, the group said.
According to the NGO, its staff members were attacked in the town of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza as they were leaving a warehouse after unloading tons of food aid earlier delivered to the Palestinian enclave by sea.
The aid workers were traveling through a de-conflicted zone in two armored cars with the WCK logo on them as well as a soft skin vehicle, the NGO said. The convoy was struck despite WCK coordinating its movements with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the statement read.
"This is not only an attack against WCK, this is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the most dire of situations, where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable," WCK CEO Erin Gore said.
Comment: This was obviously no accident. But what better way to stop an organization from delivering much needed food than by killing a few people, calling it an accident, and having the organization stop of its own accord.