U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are scheduled to have their first phone conversation Thursday since an Israeli airstrike in Gaza killed seven aid workers from the Washington-based World Central Kitchen.

Biden has been at the forefront of global condemnation following the attack on the humanitarian convoy, which was distributing food to a population on the brink of famine.

"I can confirm President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu will speak tomorrow," a U.S. official said Wednesday.

The call comes after Biden said he was "outraged and heartbroken" by the deadly strike, whose victims included a U.S.-Canadian dual national, along with three Britons, a Pole, an Australian and a Palestinian.

Biden's sharpening rhetoric and insistence that Israel do more to protect aid workers and civilians have indicated growing frustrations with how ally Israel is conducting its conflict with Hamas.

Israel has taken responsibility for the strike on the aid workers, which it called a mistake and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant instructed the armed forces to "maintain an open and transparent line of communication" with international organizations conducting relief work.

But Biden has emphasized the attack – which hit WCK-branded vehicles after the organization said it had coordinated movements with Israeli forces – was not a "stand-alone incident."

At least 196 aid workers have been killed in Gaza in the almost six-month war, nearly three times the toll inflicted by any other single conflict in a year, according to a U.N. coordinator.

U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters the strike was "emblematic of a larger problem and evidence of why distribution of aid in Gaza has been so challenging."

But the White House said that Biden continued to support Israel's "right to defend itself," and there were no plans to curb arms deliveries to the key U.S. ally.

Monday's deaths have thrown into question how to safely continue deliveries as the territory faces a deepening hunger crisis, with children reportedly dying of starvation.

WCK called the strike "targeted," suspended its operations in the region and sent ships laden with hundreds of tons of undelivered supplies back to their Mediterranean port.

Other groups have since curtailed or reassessed their operations, with the U.N. pausing nighttime movement on Tuesday to " evaluate the security issues."

"Humanitarian aid organizations are unable to carry out their work safely," said the International Committee of the Red Cross.