Hello, I'm Azde Mashiri. Welcome to the program. We start in the Middle East. The aid organization, World Central Kitchen, that's based in the US, says it's immediately suspending its operations in Gaza after an air strike killed seven of its workers. The organization says those killed are from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, a dual citizen of the US and Canada, as well as a Palestinian. In a statement, it said the convoy was hit as it was leaving the Deer Al Bala warehouse after unloading aid, and that it had coordinated movements with the IDF. It said, This is not only an attack against WCK, this is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the most dire of situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable. Of course, Israel denies that it is using food as a weapon of war. Now, earlier, Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, has confirmed one Australian woman, Zomi Frankom, was among those killed. Graham Satchell has this report.

The bodies of aid workers being taken to a hospital in central Gaza. They worked for the charity World Central Kitchen. They were traveling in armored cars branded with their charity logo when they were hit by an Israeli airstrike. The charity says seven were killed from all corners of the world: Britain, Poland, Australia, America, Canada, and Palestine.

Hey, this is Zomi and Chef Olivier.

We're at the Dinnabalaf Kitchen. The smiling face of Australian Zomi Frankam, one of those who lost their lives. She'd been working in Gaza, helping to organize the supply and preparation of food. The Australian government is demanding answers.

The truth is that this is beyond any reasonable circumstance that someone going about providing aid and humanitarian assistance should lose their life.

This is a video produced by the charity. It is one of the biggest providers of food aid in Gaza and has delivered more than 42 million meals since last October. In a statement, the Israeli military said it was conducting a review at the highest level to understand the circumstances of what it called a tragic incident. But the deaths have been condemned by the founder of the charity, Jose Andres. He said, The Israeli government needs to stop this indiscriminate killing. It needs to stop restricting humanitarian aid, stop killing civilians and aid workers, and stop using food as a weapon. In the Syrian capital, Damas, the clearup has started after an Israeli air strike on Iran's consulate. Two senior commanders of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard were killed in the attack. It is the clearest sign yet that this conflict is escalating. The Iranian ambassador in Damas hinted at retaliation.

Definitely the Zionist regime knows better than anyone that such crimes and violating international law will have its response in an appropriate time.

The deaths of foreign aid workers in Gaza will put international pressure on Israel. Governments around the world will want assurances that charities and their staff can operate safely. Graham Satchell, BBC News.

Well, let's look closer at to that attack in Damascus, that strike in Damascus, and speak to Dr Al-Amsaaleh, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations on Iran and the Middle East at the Australian National University. Thank you for your time. Now, Mohamed Zahdi was the senior commander, the main senior commander there that was apparently killed in that attack. Could you put that into context for us? How high profile a figure he is in Iran?

Well, the General Zahdi was involved in Iran's activities in the region since 1980s. He's the top Revolutionary Guard Commander responsible for coordination between Iranian-backed groups, militias in Syria and Lebanon. Of course, his deputy also was killed amongst five other Revolutionary Guard members. This is perhaps to the top assassination since the assassination of General Khassam Soleiman in Baghdad in early 2020. What makes this incident even more important is that has happened in Iranian consulate, which is considered as Iran's soil in Damascus. Therefore, it's a violation of international law. However, it seems also that Tel Aviv is well-determined to drag Iran into a war, and in doing so, they hope to achieve the following objectives. One is to involve United States in the region and to confront Iran, perhaps directly, and also to unite the fragmented political and societal spectrum inside the country, the division between Prime Minister, Netinyahu, and the people we We know that the demonstrations have been ongoing, and also to divert the attention from what's going on in Gaza.

Dr. Salih, to that point, and given the fact that there are all these fears of an escalation of this war, what options do you think Iran would consider?

I would say Iran knows very well that Tel Aviv wants to drag Iran into war, and they benefit from this act if it happens. Therefore, they won't directly retaliate, and if they will do it through their proxies in Iraq, in Lebanon, or in Yemen. The direct conflict between Iran and Israel would be catastrophic. Therefore, Iran knows very well that this image should not happen. We know that there are channels that- Dr.

Salih, apologies. Do you mean then when you talk about its proxies, and also you mentioned Lebanon there, that Hezbollah could be a vehicle in some way for a response.

Yes, of course, Hezbollah is the extension of Iran's security doctrine in the region, and it's actually designated to defend Iran rather than any other places. Therefore, it depends. The National Security Council in Iran last night have made the decision. We don't know what the decision might be, but we may know that Hezbollah would be involved in such retaliation in one way or another soon. The question is that there are channels that Tehran and Washington are in touch. It seems that United States has been blamed by Tehran, and United States also have declared that they have not been involved in such attack. There are hopes that United States and Iran may solve this problem somehow behind the curtains.

All right. Thank you so much, Dr. Al-annam Salih, for that perspective. Now, you'll remember at the beginning of this program, we started with the news that the World Central Kitchen, an aid organization, has said that it's suspending all its operations immediately in Gaza, and that's after they said an air strike has killed seven of their aid workers. Now, let's go live to Jerusalem and our Middle East correspondent, Yoland Nell, for more. Yoland, what's the latest on that?

Quite a lot of detail given in the statement from World Central Kitchen, saying that it's seven aid workers that have been killed. They're British, Australian, Polish, US and Canadian National, dual National, and Palestinians as well, killed in an apparent Israeli airstrike in Deerabal, which is in the center of the Gaza Strip. And the US charity saying that these workers and its team were in a convoy of three cars, two of them armored, and they had been coordinating their movements with the Israeli military. They were leaving a warehouse in that city, having just unloaded something like 100 tons of food aid that had just been brought in by sea. Of course, this is a charity that's been very much involved in opening up the new maritime route between Cyprus and and bringing food in that way. Now, the CEO of the organization, Erin Gore, said this is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the most dire of situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable. The Israeli military has not confirmed this strike. It said it's carrying out an in-depth examination at the highest levels to understand the circumstances of what it calls a tragic incident.

Yoland, what position does this put Israel's allies in? Allies like the United States, the United Kingdom, allies who potentially have nationals who've been killed in this strike?

We've already had the Australian Prime Minister coming out and demanding that those responsible for this be held accountable and saying that Australia has spoken to the Israeli government as a result of one of its citizens being killed. This is really something that will have further repercussions for other aid work happening in Gaza. It involves so many countries because of the different nationalities of the aid workers involved. It's a US charity. We've also had the National Security Council in the US coming out and talking about this as being a tragic incident and saying that it, too, is looking for answers.