Ambulances carrying the bodies of staff members of the US-based aid group World Central Kitchen, arrive at the Rafah crossing with Egypt in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday. AFP

The bodies of six foreign aid workers killed in Israeli airstrikes began the journey back to their home countries Wednesday as more questions swirled over Israel's explanation that a "misidentification” led to the attack on their convoy.

The deadly strikes renewed criticism of Israel’s conduct in the nearly 6-month-old war with Hamas and highlighted the risks that the military's bombardment poses to aid workers as they try to deliver food to the besieged enclave. The UN says nearly a third of the Gaza population is on the brink of starvation.

The three British citizens, a Polish citizen, an Australian and a Canadian American dual citizen worked for World Central Kitchen, an international charity founded by celebrity chef José Andrés. Their Palestinian driver was also killed, and his remains were handed over to his family for burial in Gaza.

The other bodies were driven into Egypt through the Rafah crossing, according to the Palestinian Crossings Authority, which oversees border crossings.

The seven were distributing food that had been brought into Gaza through a newly established maritime corridor when Israeli airstrikes targeted their three vehicles late Monday, killing everyone inside.

A worker sits in a vehicle next to a body of one of the foreign workers, who were killed in an Israeli airstrike. Reuters

Israel’s military chief, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, announced the results of a preliminary investigation.

"It was a mistake that followed a misidentification - at night during a war in very complex conditions. It shouldn’t have happened.” He gave no further details. He said an independent body would complete a "thorough investigation” in the coming days.

Andrés said the strikes "were not just some unfortunate mistake in the fog of war.”

"It was a direct attack on clearly marked vehicles whose movements were known by” the Israeli military, Andrés wrote in an op-ed published Wednesday by Israel’s Yediot Ahronot newspaper. "It was also the direct result of (the Israeli) government’s policy to squeeze humanitarian aid to desperate levels.”

World Central Kitchen said it had coordinated its movements with the military, and the vehicles were marked with the organization’s logo.

A body of staff member of the World Central Kitchen is transported out of a hospital morgue in Rafah. AFP

Andres, a Spanish-American chef whose organization has provided aid in war and disaster zones all over the world, including to Israelis after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war, wrote that "the Israeli government needs to open land routes to food and medicine today. It needs to stop killing civilians and aid workers today.”

Spain's prime minister, Pedreo Sanchez, said Israel's explanation so far was "absolutely unacceptable and insufficient” and called for "much more detailed clarification of what happened.” He spoke at a joint news conference in Doha with his Qatari counterpart. Qatar has played a key role in efforts to mediate a cease-fire, along with the U.S. and Egypt.

Some of Israel’s closest allies condemned the deaths, which led the World Central Kitchen and other charities to suspend food deliveries, citing the dire security situation.

Israeli officials have not elaborated on the nature of the mistake.

Associated Press