'I cannot comprehend a future without him'

The mother of a British aid worker killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza says she "cannot comprehend a future without his presence".

James Kirby, 47, was one of seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) workers killed in the attack on 1 April, including two other Britons.

Ahead of his funeral service in Bristol on Wednesday, his mother, Jacqui Kirby, said he was a "remarkable man".

In a statement released through Avon and Somerset Police she added: "I cannot express more deeply my gratitude for the outpouring of love I have seen over the weeks since his tragic death in Gaza."

Her tribute reads: “James was a remarkable man, a true friend to so many people and, above all, he was my son.

“I will miss him beyond measure and cannot comprehend a future without his presence."

Ms Kirby said she takes "great comfort" knowing he died doing something that mattered to him "and the knowledge that he was loved by so many people from all walks of life".

In the fatal incident Israeli armed drones fired munitions through three marked vehicles in the WCK convoy as it left one of the aid group’s warehouses in Deir al-Balah, south of Gaza City.

Britons John Chapman, 57, and James “Jim” Henderson, 33, were also killed in the attack.

All three British citizens have been repatriated.

The men, who were part of WCK's security team, were travelling with a convoy that had just unloaded more than 100 tonnes of much-needed food aid brought from overseas, according to the charity.

Also killed were the relief team’s leader, Australian national Lalzawmi “Zomi” Frankcom, 43; dual American-Canadian citizen Jacob Flickinger, 33; Polish national Damian Sobol, 35; and their driver, Palestinian Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha, 25.

London and other Western capitals condemned the strike with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak telling his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu that he was “appalled” and that the situation in Gaza was “increasingly intolerable”.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it dismissed two officers and reprimanded three others over the incident, calling it a “serious mistake”.

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