The ministry said that five “martyrs” had arrived at a hospital in central Gaza’s Deir el-Balah after “an Israeli strike targeted a vehicle belonging to the American organisation World Central Kitchen”.

“They hold British, Australian and Polish nationalities, with the fourth nationality not known,” Hamas said in another statement, which added that the fifth person killed was a Palestinian driver and translator.

The American NGO said it was “aware of reports” that members of its staff “had been killed in an IDF attack while working to support our humanitarian food delivery efforts in Gaza”.

The Israeli military said in its own statement that it was “conducting a thorough review at the highest levels to understand the circumstances of this tragic incident” and added that it had “been working closely with WCK” in the effort to provide aid to Palestinians.

At the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir el-Balah, an AFP correspondent saw five bodies with three foreign passports lying nearby.

World Central Kitchen has been involved in delivering the aid that arrived by boat from Cyprus and in the construction of a temporary jetty in Gaza.