By Simon Lewis and John Irish
PARIS (Reuters) - Washington has urged Israel to conduct a swift, thorough and impartial investigation into an Israeli airstrike that killed seven aid workers with the World Central Kitchen charity in Gaza, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday.
Blinken arrived in Paris for talks with senior officials including President Emmanuel Macron hours after the Washington-based NGO was struck by an Israeli airstrike in central Gaza, adding pressure on Washington to toughen its stance in the war between Israel and Hamas.
"We've spoken directly to the Israeli government about this particular incident. We've urged a swift, a thorough and impartial investigation," Blinken told reporters at a press conference in Paris, adding that humanitarian workers have to be protected.
"These people are heroes, they run into the fire, not away from it," he said of the NGO workers killed in the strike. "We shouldn't have a situation where people who are simply trying to help their fellow human beings are themselves at grave risk."
But Blinken stopped short of directly condemning the attack, unlike his French counterpart Stephane Sejourne.
Speaking alongside Blinken, Sejourne voiced France's "firm condemnation" of the Israeli airstrike.
"Nothing can justify such a tragedy," he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the airstrike was unintended and tragic, and the military pledged an independent inquiry.
Biden faces pressure from foreign partners, human rights groups and some of his fellow Democrats in Congress to impose conditions on arms transfers to rein in Israel’s offensive in Hamas-ruled Gaza where health officials say more than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed, many of them civilians.
"The killing of these employees – and so many U.N. and other aid workers – is unacceptable. Enough is enough. There must be an immediate and independent investigation," Democratic U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen said.
Hours before the Israeli strike on WCK workers on Monday, Reuters reported that the Biden administration was considering proceeding with an $18 billion arms transfer package to Israel.
Asked if incidents like the killing of WCK workers made the United States think twice about its "flood of weapons" to Israel, Blinken did not address the specific question but said all U.S. arms transfers happened consistent to policy requirements.
"From Day One, we have worked to impress upon Israel, the imperative of protecting civilians, of adhering fully to international humanitarian law, to the law of armed conflict. That is something that we are looking at and review on a regular basis," he added.
CRITICAL MOMENT IN UKRAINE
Blinken was due to hold talks with Macron later in the day.
"You can sense the Americans are a bit uncomfortable at the moment," said one French diplomat, pointing to the contrast between Washington's humanitarian efforts in Gaza and its supply of weapons to Israel.
Earlier in the day, Blinken said Ukraine was at a critical moment in its war with Russia and urgently needs more Western support, bemoaning the stalemate in Congress over a multibillion-dollar military package for Kyiv.
"It is absolutely essential to get Ukrainians what they continue to need to defend themselves, particularly when it comes to munitions and air defences," he told reporters.
"It's another reason why the supplementary budget request that President (Joe) Biden has made to (the U.S.) Congress must be fulfilled as quickly as possible."
Biden has urged the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives to endorse the military and financial aid package, but House Speaker Mike Johnson has held up the matter for months, citing domestic priorities.