Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned comments by his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, saying an airstrike on aid workers "doesn't just happen," public broadcaster CBC News reported.
Netanyahu in a video said the airstrike that killed seven aid workers of World Central Aid Kitchen (WCK) NGO earlier this week was a "tragic case of our forces unintentionally hitting innocent people in the Gaza Strip."
"This happens in wartime," he added.
The victims included a dual Canadian-US citizen.
Trudeau denounced the remarks. "No, it doesn't just happen," he said during an event in Winnipeg. "And it shouldn't just happen when you have aid workers for an extraordinary organization like World Central Kitchen risking their lives every day in an incredibly dangerous place to deliver food to people who are experiencing a horrific humanitarian catastrophe."
Trudeau had earlier called for an investigation into the incident.
"We need a fully open, transparent, independent and rapid investigation into what happened," he said. "The reality is we need much more humanitarian support to flow into Gaza, much more protection of civilians, of innocents and of aid workers.
"That's why we need a humanitarian cease-fire. We need for Hamas to lay down its arms. We need for the hostages to be released, and we need a ceasefire to allow this humanitarian catastrophe to end as quickly as possible."
The non-profit that provides meals to communities in disaster and war zones has called for an independent investigation into killing the of its workers, saying the Israeli action on Monday was "a military attack that involved multiple strikes and targeted three WCK vehicles."
Israel has killed more than 33,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 attack by Palestinian group Hamas which claimed 1,200 lives.
