Israel should pay compensation for killing Polish aid worker, says Donald Tusk

Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Israel should apologize and compensate the relatives of the Polish aid worker killed by its army in Gaza on Monday.

“I would like the representatives of the State of Israel here in Poland to respect the justified emotions of Poles and communicate in this matter in a clear and direct way,” said Tusk on Thursday, as quoted by the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita. “The words ‘I’m sorry,’ full information about the circumstances of the incident and compensation is something that should be obvious.”

Earlier this week, seven people including a Polish citizen were killed in the Israeli strikes against a convoy from World Central Kitchen, an aid organization that provides meals to civilians suffering from hunger due to conflicts.

In an interview with Polish news channel TVP World on Wednesday, Israeli Ambassador to Poland Yacov Livne expressed “deep regret” over the killings. “We will investigate what has happened, understand what actually took place, and take every possible measure so that such things will not be repeated,” he said.

Tusk condemned the lack of “a simple, human apology” from Livne. “It really doesn’t cost anything,” he said.

On Wednesday, Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Szejna summoned Israel’s ambassador for discussions on Polish-Israeli relations following the strike.

Poland and Israel have been trying in recent years to restore frayed diplomatic ties, which had deteriorated after the previous, nationalist government in Warsaw brought in a law limiting Jews’ ability to recover World War II properties.