An Israeli military strike has killed seven employees of a humanitarian organisation as they delivered food to hungry Gaza civilians, according to the non-profit group World Central Kitchen and authorities in the besieged enclave.
World Central Kitchen said its staff were travelling in a “deconflicted zone” in two armoured vehicles bearing the charity’s logo, as well as a “soft-skin vehicle”. The group said in a statement:
“Despite coordinating movements with the IDF, the convoy was hit as it was leaving the Deir Al-Balah warehouse, where the team had unloaded more than 100 tons of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza on the maritime route.”
Among those killed were a US and Canadian citizen, as well as residents of Australia, Poland, Britain and a Palestinian. World Central Kitchen CEO Erin Gore said in a statement:
“I am heartbroken and appalled that we – World Central Kitchen and the world – lost beautiful lives today because of a targeted attack by the IDF. The love they had for feeding people, the determination they embodied to show that humanity rises above all, and the impact they made in countless lives will forever be remembered and cherished.”
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it is “conducting a thorough inspection at the highest level to get to the bottom of the circumstances of this tragic incident”.
Video footage obtained by CNN shows the bloodied bodies of several victims wearing World Central Kitchen waistcoats after an airstrike in the central city of Deir Al-Balah.
World Central Kitchen said it was suspending its operations after the deadly strike and assessing the future prospects for its work in Gaza.
The charity, headquartered in Washington, DC, provides meals to disaster-affected regions and communities around the world. It is one of the few humanitarian organisations delivering much-needed food to Gaza, where 2.2 million people do not have enough to eat, and where aid agencies warn that half the population is on the brink of starvation and famine due to Israel’s restriction of aid supplies and widespread destruction. World Central Kitchen founder José Andrés wrote on X:
“Today WCKitchen lost several of our sisters and brothers in an IDF air strike in Gaza. I am heartbroken and grieving for their families and friends and our whole WCK family. The Israeli government needs to stop this indiscriminate killing. It needs to stop restricting humanitarian aid, stop killing civilians and aid workers, and stop using food as a weapon. These are people…angels…I served alongside in Ukraine, Gaza, Turkey, Morocco, Bahamas, Indonesia. They are not faceless…they are not nameless.”
Hamas condemned the attack in a statement on Tuesday, calling on the international community and the United Nations to “take action.” It said in a statement:
“This crime once again confirms that the occupation continues its policy of deliberate killing of innocent civilians, international relief teams, and humanitarian organizations, in its efforts to terrorize those working in them and prevent them from carrying out their humanitarian duties.”
In March, the non-profit organisation took the initiative to send 200 tonnes of food to Gaza in what it said was the first sea cargo of humanitarian aid for the Palestinian enclave. The cargo included enough ingredients for 500,000 meals that World Central Kitchen planned to distribute in the Gaza Strip, where hundreds of thousands of people are on the brink of starvation.
