There is no reason for the United States to be engaged with any government that can do this. From the BBC:

Seven of the U.S.-based food charity’s workers were killed on Monday when leaving a warehouse in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has acknowledged that Israel’s forces hit “innocent people.” In his statement, Mr. Andrés said he was grieving for the victims’ families. “These are people...angels,” he wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “They are not faceless...they are not nameless.” “The Israeli government needs to stop this indiscriminate killing,” he added. “It needs to stop restricting humanitarian aid, stop killing civilians and aid workers, and stop using food as a weapon.”

The IDF said it was conducting a “thorough review” into what it called a “tragic incident.” Mr. Netanyahu confirmed on Tuesday that “innocent people” were hit in what he called an “unintentional” strike. “It happens in war, we check it to the end, we are in contact with the governments, and we will do everything so that this thing does not happen again,” he said.

I know I’m convinced.

I am struck by the fact that these killings were immediately called “unintentional” by the Netanyahu government and not a "mistake" until Wednesday. Somebody should ask what sort of mistake. Was it a targeting error? A weapons failure? General incompetence? The Netanyahu government is availing itself of the ancient legal principle of “Hey, sh*t happens.”

This one is not likely to go away. José Andrés is the closest thing we have to a secular saint, bouncing from war zones to natural disasters, offering food and other comforts. He and his World Central Kitchen have built themselves a very big microphone, and Andrés is not shy about using it. And he is uniquely positioned to be the face of the relief organizations that already have a considerable body count of their own. From The Washington Post:

The strike is believed to be the first to kill foreigners working for an international aid organization in Gaza since the start of the war on Oct. 7, though a record number of Palestinians employed by the United Nations have been killed in the conflict. It sent shock waves through the humanitarian aid community, causing at least two other groups providing aid to pause their operations at a time when Gaza is on the brink of famine. “This is not an isolated incident,” said United Nations humanitarian coordinator James McGoldrick, citing the killing of at least 196 humanitarians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza since October. “This is nearly three times the death toll recorded in any single conflict in a year,” he said, adding that the United Nations would continue aid deliveries.

There are mass demonstrations in the streets of Israel again, as there were nightly before the war broke out. The protesters are demanding an end to Netanyahu’s government and new elections as soon as possible. That’s the most hopeful sign in weeks. Certainly more hopeful than the other big story from that part of the world over the weekend. Thirty new missiles. Hope they hit what they’re aiming at.

Headshot of Charles P. Pierce
Charles P. Pierce

Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976. He lives near Boston and has three children.