On the morning of April 1, President Joe Biden’s top national security aides had a stern message for Israel as it prepared to launch a military operation in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah: Its northern Gaza offensive against Hamas militants had already killed tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians. The same must not happen again. As Israeli Ambassador Michael Herzog arrived at the White House Situation Room to attend a virtual meeting that Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken were about to hold with their counterparts in Tel Aviv, Herzog pulled Blinken aides aside with startling news.
Less than an hour earlier, he said, Israeli warplanes had struck an office building in Damascus, targeting the Syrian headquarters of Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a building next to the Iranian Embassy. Later that day, Herzog alerted the White House to yet another strike. Missiles from Israeli drones operating in Gaza had struck a clearly marked convoy of the Washington-based World Central Kitchen, one of the few organizations able to get supplies to starving civilians.
Seven people were dead, including aid workers from the United States, Britain, Poland and Australia, along with their Palestinian driver. Terrible mistake "It was a terrible mistake—a tragedy," Israeli Ambassador Michael Herzog said. He vowed that Israel would investigate and hold those responsible to account.
In a statement, an outraged U.S. presi.