Israeli airstrike in Gaza kills two World Central Kitchen aid workers: IDF says its attack was targeting Hamas operative involved in October 7 attack - as WCK says it is urgently seeking more details

Two aid workers have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza today after the car they were travelling in was hit. 

World Central Kitchen (WCK) said it was urgently seeking more details after Israels military said it targeted an employee who was part of the Hamas October 7 attacks.

The charity said it was heartbroken and added it had no knowledge that anyone in the car had alleged ties to the terrorist group. 

It said it was pausing operations in Gaza following the strike, adding that it was working with incomplete information and was urgently seeking more details.

The Israeli military in a statement said the alleged October 7 attacker took part in the assault on the kibbutz of Nir Oz, and it asked senior officials from the international community and the WCK to clarify how he had come to work for the charity.

The family of the man, Ahed Azmi Qdeih, rejected the allegations as false, and confirmed in a statement he had worked with the charity. 

We are heartbroken to share that a vehicle carrying World Central Kitchen colleagues was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza, it said in a statement posted on X. 

World Central Kitchen had no knowledge that any individual in the vehicle had alleged ties to the October 7th Hamas attack.

Palestinians stand next to a destroyed vehicle in which employees of the World Central Kitchen (WCK) were killed in an Israeli strike

A Palestinian inspects a vehicle in which employees of the World Central Kitchen (WCK) were killed in an Israeli strike

Pictured: The destroyed vehicle that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza on November 30 

The official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that three employees of the charity were killed in the strike, with medics saying a total of five people were killed.

The strike highlights the dangerous work of delivering aid in Gaza, where the war has displaced much of the 2.3 million population and caused widespread hunger.

In April, a strike on a WCK aid convoy killed seven workers - three British citizens, Polish and Australian nationals, a Canadian-American dual national and a Palestinian. 

The Israeli military called it a mistake with the strike prompting an international outcry.

Another Palestinian WCK worker was killed in August by shrapnel from an Israeli airstrike, the group said.

A different Israeli airstrike on Saturday hit a car near a food distribution point in Khan Younis, killing 13 people, including children. Nasser hospital in Khan Younis received the bodies.

They were distributing aid, vegetables, and we saw the missile landing, witness Rami Al-Sori said. A woman sat on the ground and wept.

Save the Children said a local employee was killed in one of the Khan Younis airstrikes while returning from a mosque.

And the director of Kamal Adwan hospital reported a strike in Tal al Zaatar in Beit Lahiya in the north where Israeli forces are operating, and estimated based on witness accounts that well over 100 dead were under the rubble. He said the area remained inaccessible.

Palestinians carry drums and bottles on war-torn streets to fill with drinkable water on November 30 

People check a car hit by an Israeli strike in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on November 30

People check a car hit by an Israeli strike in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on November 30

Palestinians carry drums and bottles on war-torn streets to fill with drinkable water

It comes as Hamas released a new hostage video on Saturday of Israeli-American citizen Edan Alexander. 

Speaking under duress, Alexander referred to being held for 420 days and mentioned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus recent $5 million offer for the hostages return.

The prime minister is supposed to protect his soldiers and citizens, and you abandoned us, Alexander said.

Netanyahus office said that he spoke with Alexanders family after the release of the brutal psychological warfare video that held an important and exciting sign of life.

(Netanyahu) reassured me and promised that now, after reaching an arrangement in Lebanon, conditions are right to free you all and bring you home, Alexanders mother, Yael, told demonstrators in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening.

A statement from US National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett called the hostage video a cruel reminder of Hamass terror against citizens of multiple countries, including our own.

The war in Gaza would stop tomorrow and the suffering of Gazans would end immediately - and would have ended months ago - if Hamas agreed to release the hostages, it said.

Israels retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed more than 44,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, who dont distinguish between civilians and combatants in their count but say over half the dead were women and children.

While efforts for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas have faltered,  the US- and France-brokered deal for Lebanon appears to be holding since Wednesday.

Palestinians carry out search and rescue work in the rubble of the destroyed building after Israeli army attacked on a building in the Shujaiyya neighborhood in Gaza City on November 29

Palestinians inspect a destroyed vehicle on Salah al-Din Road following Israeli military strikes

Palestinian residents carry out search and rescue work in the rubble of a destroyed building

On Saturday, Israels military said that it struck sites used to smuggle weapons from Syria to Lebanon after the ceasefire took effect. 

There was no immediate comment from Syrian authorities or Hezbollah. Israeli aircraft have struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon several times, citing truce violations.

Israels strike in Syria came as insurgents breached its largest city, Aleppo, bringing fresh uncertainty to the region.

The truce between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah calls for an initial two-month ceasefire in which the militants should withdraw north of Lebanons Litani River and Israeli forces should return to their side of the border.

Many Lebanese, some of the 1.2 million displaced, streamed home despite warnings by the Israeli and Lebanese militaries to avoid certain areas.

Day by day, we will return to our normal lives, said Mustafa Badawi, a cafe owner in Tyre.