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The United States approved the transfer of more bombs to Israel on the same day when an Israeli airstrike on World Central Kitchen, a food charity in Gaza, killed seven aid workers, a Washington Post report said on Thursday.

Over a thousand more bombs were approved for transfer to Israel by the Biden administration, three US officials told the Washington Post. Seven aid workers, including a dual citizen of the United States and Canada, were killed in the Israeli strike.

The White House had described President Joe Biden as “outraged and heartbroken” by the attack in Gaza. Biden was likely to bring up the need for better protection for humanitarian workers and for an increase in food shipments in Gaza, a US official said.

“They were providing food to hungry civilians in the middle of a war,” Biden said. “They were brave and selfless.”

Over 1,000 MK82 500-pound bombs, 1,000 small-diameter bombs, and fuses for MK80 bombs, were approved for transfer to Israel. The authorisation for these arms was made several years before the recent Israel-Hamas war, the US officials told the newspaper.

The transfer of these weapons took place sometime “prior” to the Israeli airstrike on the Gaza food charity, run by celebrity chef Jose Andres.

It is not clear what type of ammunition was approved for transfer to Israel, but according to Josh Paul, an ex-US arms expert, the small-diameter bombs given to Israel by the US are “certainly comparable”.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday responded to questions on the US State Department’s role in the transfer of arms, saying there are “regional threats” to Israel from Iran and Hezbollah. He said the weapons were aimed at “avoiding more conflicts”.

Notably, he had also condemned the Israeli strike on the Gaza NGO and had called the aid workers who were killed “heroes”.

“We shouldn’t have a situation where people who are simply trying to help their fellow human beings are themselves at grave risk,” he said.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu had also lamented the killing of the NGO workers calling the incident “tragic and unintended”. However, he also said this “happens in wartime”.

Three of those killed in the strike were British nationals, one Australian, one from Poland, one Palestinian and one dual citizen of the United States and Canada.

The aid workers were travelling in two armoured cars emblazoned with the WCK logo and another vehicle. Despite coordinating movements with the Israeli Defence Force, the convoy was hit as it was leaving its Deir al-Balah warehouse after unloading more than 100 tons of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza by sea, WCK said.