World Central Kitchen said seven of its team members delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza were killed by an Israeli strike on their vehicles on Monday, as the Israeli military said it would conduct a “thorough review” of the incident.
A man displays blood-stained British, Polish, and Australian passports after an Israeli airstrike, ... [+]
In a statement on its website on Tuesday, the international aid group said its team in Gaza was struck while traveling in vehicles marked with the World Central Kitchen logo in a “deconflicted zone.”
The group said despite “coordinating movements with the IDF,” its convoy was struck after delivering more than 100 tons of food aid to a warehouse in the southern Gazan city of Deir al-Balah.
The seven deceased workers were from Australia, Poland, the U.K., a dual citizen from the U.S. and Canada and Palestine.
The aid group said it was immediately pausing its operations in the region and will make “decisions about the future of our work soon.”
Official confirmation of the deaths comes after graphic footage showing the bodies of the deceased workers appeared on social media. The footage showed the victims were dressed in protective gear with World Central Kitchen logos and displayed some of their passports identifying the British, Polish and Australian workers. The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said at least one Palestinian was also killed in the strike, but it is unclear if they were among the seven deceased staffers identified by the aid group.
Following reports of the strike aid group’s founder and Spanish-American celebrity chef Jose Andres wrote on X: “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. No more innocent lives lost.”
The Israeli military told reporters it was “conducting a thorough review at the highest levels to understand the circumstances of this tragic incident…The IDF makes extensive efforts to enable the safe delivery of humanitarian aid, and has been working closely with WCK in their vital efforts to provide food and humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.”
Gaza medical officials say Israeli strike kills 4 foreign aid workers, driver after delivering food (Associated Press)