One of the seven aid workers killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza was 33-year-old Jacob Flickenger, a former member of the Canadian Armed Forces who grew up in the Beauce region of Quebec and was a father to an 18-month-old boy.

Flickenger, who held dual Canadian and American citizenship, had been in Gaza volunteering with the World Central Kitchen organization since early March, his family said in an interview on Wednesday.

Aid workers are racing to distribute food as famine looms in Gaza following six months of the Israeli invasion.

But providing aid has proven deadly. More than 196 humanitarian workers, many of them Palestinians working for UNRWA (the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees), have been killed since the invasion began in October, according to the Aid Worker Security Database, a US-funded group that records major violence incidents against civilian aid staff.

Flickenger’s parents, Sylvie Labrec and John Flickenger, said the attack on Flickenger and six of his colleagues was a clear and targeted attack by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) given how visible the World Central Kitchen convoy’s marking was. They added it was also traveling on a well-used humanitarian route and that the group had coordinated their movements in advance with the Israeli military.

Flickenger’s father said in an interview with CBC News on Wednesday afternoon: “In my opinion, this was a targeted killing of aid workers who happened to be foreigners.”

Flickenger, sitting beside his ex-wife Labrec in her home in Saint-Georges, about 200 kilometers northeast of Montreal, said, “Most of the aid workers killed so far have been from Gaza. And this is part of an attempt — I don’t know if they are thinking about starving the population in Palestine, I don’t know if this is punishment and revenge and repression,” “This war makes no sense. All wars make no sense.”

The group said in a statement that Flickenger and six other World Central Kitchen workers were returning to their base on Monday after unloading 90 tons of food aid at a warehouse in Deir al-Balah.

The workers were traveling in a demilitarized zone in two armored vehicles bearing the WCK logo and a “soft skin vehicle.” The group said they were hit despite coordinating their movements with the Israeli military.

The other six workers are British, Polish, Australian, and Palestinian, according to WCK, which published their names, photos, and ages on Tuesday.

Israeli military commander Hertzi Halevi said on Wednesday that the preliminary investigation following the attack revealed it was “a mistake followed by a mistake in identification.”

He confirmed: “At night, during war under very complex conditions. This was not supposed to happen.” Halevi did not provide further details.

He added that an independent body will conduct a “comprehensive investigation” to be completed in the coming days.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier admitted to the “unintended strike... on innocent people” and said officials will work to ensure it does not happen again.

Flickenger’s parents called for a ceasefire in Gaza and the return of hostages to Israel.

Labrec said: “Not only did our son leave. All these families are affected, so I hope they don’t leave in vain.” Flickenger said: “It seems this hatred has no end.”

11 years of military service

His parents said Jacob Flickenger, who spent 11 years in the Canadian Armed Forces and eight months in Afghanistan, recently settled with his wife Sandy Leclair and their 18-month-old son in Costa Rica.

Labrec added: “They were a happy small family. They were very happy together and loved each other dearly. They had great plans for the future, for themselves and the child.” His father, crying, said the child was “Jacob’s greatest joy.” The Flickenger family preferred to keep their young son's identity anonymous.

“Now things have radically changed”

Labrec said Leclair, from the Quebec City area, stayed in Costa Rica to grieve, where her father travelled from Quebec to join her.

In the months before traveling to Gaza for World Central Kitchen, Flickenger had completed a contract with the charity in Acapulco, Mexico, following a hurricane there. As he did in Gaza, Flickenger helped with security and logistics in delivering food aid.

Labrec said the work was perfect for Flickenger, as it used his training and military skills well, adding he “was doing what he loved, which is helping people.”

She and John Flickenger said they received an outpouring of messages from people all over the world who knew their son, either through his military service or various organizations.

His father said: “He was the best friend you could ask for and the most loyal. He touched many people.”

Sindarin White, who met Flickenger at a 2019 conference where he was holding a workshop on outdoor survival, was one of those people. She recalled how Flickenger could captivate attention in the room, saying, “All eyes would turn to him directly.” She said her friend was “invincible” in her mind.

He was a man who did not give up. He was the best version of himself, and he didn’t just say that, he acted on it. White said, “He was just trying to be an inspiration to the people around him.”

Flickenger was born in Saint-Georges, where his mother still lives, but the family soon moved to Miami, where his father is from and currently lives. Labrec explained that Labrec and John Flickenger separated when Jacob was five years old, and he and his mother returned to the Beauce area, where he grew up thereafter.

John Flickenger received a phone call from World Central Kitchen on Monday evening informing him of his son's death. He traveled to Quebec to deliver the news to his ex-wife in person.

World leaders condemned the attack on the aid convoy. US President Joe Biden issued unusually sharp criticisms of his close ally, noting the deaths show Israel is not doing enough to protect civilians.

He said, “Israel has not done enough to protect aid workers who are trying to deliver the much-needed help to civilians,” adding he “feels anger and sadness” over their deaths. “Incidents like the one that happened yesterday should not happen.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the attack on aid workers is “completely unacceptable.”

Trudeau added, “The world needs clear answers about how this happened, and we need to keep pushing again for more humanitarian aid and a ceasefire that will bring this kind of support to people throughout Gaza.”

The Israeli invasion of Gaza follows an unprecedented attack by Hamas that killed 1,139 people in southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Fighters held 253 hostages, with 130 still in captivity and at least 34 presumed dead.

The Hamas-run Ministry of Health there said this week that 32,975 people have been killed in Gaza since then.