Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has demanded a rapid explanation from Israel on the deaths of seven members of the World Central Kitchen aid organization in the Gaza Strip.

“I expect and demand that the Israeli government clear up as soon as possible the circumstances of this brutal attack that cost the lives of seven workers of an aid organization who were doing nothing other than helping,” Sánchez said during a visit to a Palestinian refugee camp in Jordan.

The aid workers had been attempting to feed the population of the Gaza Strip amid acute need, he said.

Sánchez has been one of the main critics among European Union leaders of Israel’s military response to the October 7 attacks mounted by the Palestinian militant organization Hamas from the Gaza Strip. On setting off on his trip to the Middle East on Monday, he said the Spanish government planned to recognize the Palestinian state before the summer.