CNN pressed Israeli Prime Minister’s Office spokeswoman Tal Heinrich on Tuesday about the devastating airstrike in Gaza that killed seven charity workers from World Central Kitchen.
Israel has come under fire from the international community following the airstrike on Monday night, which World Central Kitchen—a nonprofit founded by Spanish chef José Andrés—said occurred as the team was leaving a warehouse where they had unloaded more than 100 tons of humanitarian food brought to Gaza by sea.
Among the seven charity workers killed were one Palestinian and six foreign citizens, including a dual citizen of the United States and Canada. The other casualties were from Australia, Britain, and Poland.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the bombing as a “tragic episode in which our forces mistakenly harmed non-combatants in the Gaza Strip,” adding, “This happens in battle. We are undertaking a comprehensive investigation and are in contact with the government. We will do everything possible to prevent a repeat.
On Tuesday’s broadcast of OutFront, CNN’s Erin Burnett probed Heinrich on the lethal strike, questioning how the attack could be “unintentional.”
“In a precision missile environment, which is what Israel conducts, every strike is intentional,” Burnett prompted Heinrich. “You’re aiming for something”
The Israeli official told Burnett that she did not “want to jump into conclusions,” and advised her to wait for the “exact details of what transpired” when the investigation was completed.
“But what I can say, and I think it’s really important here, is that when we make mistakes, when Israel makes mistakes, even the most tragic ones to admit … We take responsibility,” he said. “We admit to the most terrible experiences. So we tell the truth, even if it is the most inconvenient thing to say.”
Burnett also pressed Heinrich on the claimed death toll in Gaza, where Gaza health officials estimate that more than 30,000 Palestinians have been dead since the conflict began following Israel’s attacks on October 7. According to Israeli sources, Hamas’ assaults killed approximately 1,200 people.
Heinrich advised CNN to treat the death toll figures provided by Gaza health officials “with a huge spoon of salt, not a grain of salt.” Hamas, a Palestinian terrorist group, runs Gaza’s health ministry.
“What I can tell you, the facts and the truth according to our assessment and the facts that we have, is that we eliminated more than 13,000 Palestinian Islamic jihad terrorists,” he said.
The world community has put a lot of pressure on Netanyahu’s government for its response to the October 7 assaults. United Nations authorities have warned that vast parts of Gaza’s population are on the verge of starvation, and President Joe Biden has joined calls for a temporary cease-fire in the fighting to allow supplies to reach those in need. Such agreements would also ensure the release of some of the captives held by Hamas during the October 7 strikes.
Several world personalities condemned Israel’s military response following Monday’s airstrike on the relief convoy. Martin Griffiths, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, stated on Tuesday that the “actions of those behind it are indefensible.” Biden stated that the attack left him “outraged and heartbroken” and that Israel’s inquiry into the incident “must be swift, it must bring accountability, and its findings must be made public.”
“Even more tragically, this is not an isolated incident,” the president stated. “This conflict has been one of the worst in recent memory in terms of how many aid workers have been killed.”
Late Tuesday night, Newsweek contacted the United States State Department for further comment.