Four international aid workers with the World Central Kitchen charity and their Palestinian driver were killed in a strike on their vehicle in central Gaza late Monday after they helped deliver food and other supplies to northern Gaza that had arrived hours earlier by ship, health officials in Gaza said.
World Central Kitchen “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,” founder chef Jose Andres posted on social media site X.
Footage showed the bodies of the five dead at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah. Several of them wore protective gear with the charity’s logo. Staff showed the passports of three of the dead — British, Australian and Polish. The nationality of the fourth aid worker was not immediately known.
According to Mahmoud Thabet, a paramedic from the Palestinian Red Crescent who was on the team that brought the bodies to the hospital, the workers’ car was hit by an Israeli strike just after crossing from northern Gaza after helping deliver aid that had arrived hours earlier on a ship from Cyprus.
The source of fire could not be independently confirmed.
In an initial response, the IDF did not say whether it was responsible for the strike, but stated that it was “carrying out an in-depth examination at the highest levels to understand the circumstances of this tragic incident.”
The army added that it was “making great efforts to enable safe delivery of humanitarian aid, and has worked closely with the World Central Kitchen in its efforts to provide food and humanitarian aid to Gaza residents.”
The aid ships that arrived Monday carried some 400 tons of food and supplies in a shipment organized by the United Arab Emirates and the World Central Kitchen, the charity founded by celebrity chef José Andrés. Last month a ship delivered 200 tons of aid in a pilot run. The Israeli military was involved in coordinating both deliveries.
“We are aware of reports that members of the World Central Kitchen team have been killed in an IDF attack while working to support our humanitarian food delivery efforts in Gaza,” WCK posted on X. “This is a tragedy. Humanitarian aid workers and civilians should NEVER be a target. EVER.”
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a radio interview with state broadcaster ABC that the country’s foreign ministry was “urgently investigating” the reports.
An Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson said reports of the death of an Australian aid worker were very distressing.
“We have been clear on the need for civilian lives to be protected in this conflict. We have been very clear that we expect humanitarian workers in Gaza to have safe and unimpeded access to do their lifesaving work,” the spokesperson said.
The US has touted the sea route as a new way to deliver desperately needed aid to northern Gaza, where international aid groups warn several hundred Palestinians face imminent famine, largely cut off from the rest of the territory by Israeli forces. Israel has barred UNRWA, the main UN agency in Gaza, from making deliveries to the north, though it is working with other organizations. However, other aid groups allege sending truck convoys north has been too dangerous because of the military’s failure to ensure safe passage.
In its previous post from Monday on X, the WCK said its teams mobilize across Gaza daily to distribute food to displaced Palestinians.
“Our 60+ kitchens in southern and central Gaza are cooking hundreds of thousands of meals each day like this mujadara, a comforting dish of rice, lentils, and caramelized onions,” it said.
The strike came hours after Israeli troops ended a two-week raid on Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest. During the raid, which began March 18, the IDF said troops captured some 900 suspects, of whom more than 500 were confirmed to be terror operatives, and killed more than 200 gunmen. Among those killed and detained were top commanders in Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Valuable intelligence was also seized, the IDF said.
Witnesses returning to the scene after the military’s pullout described scenes of destruction at the facility and surrounding neighborhoods. Footage showed Shifa’s main buildings had been reduced to burned-out husks.
Israel has said its forces did not harm civilians during the raid. Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the top military spokesman, said Hamas and Islamic Jihad established their main northern headquarters inside the hospital. He described days of close-quarters fighting and blamed Hamas for the destruction, saying some fighters barricaded themselves inside hospital wards while others launched mortar rounds at the compound.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has alleged that at least 21 patients died. Witnesses entering the hospital Monday said they found more bodies they believed were of civilians. The circumstances in which those people died were not clear.
The war began on Oct. 7, when Hamas-led terrorists stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 people hostage.
Hamas says at least 32,845 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, a figure that cannot be independently verified and includes at least 13,000 Hamas terrorists Israel says it has killed in battle. Israel also says it killed some 1,000 gunmen inside Israel on October 7.