Seven aid workers die after Israeli attack on Gaza: “Unforgivable” | Gaza Strip

Seven aid workers from the World Central Kitchen (WCK) were killed on Monday in the Gaza Strip by the Israeli Army, the North American non-governmental organization founded by the chef Spanish José Andrés. Among the victims are citizens of British, Australian, Palestinian, Polish and North American nationalities.

In a statement, WCK says that “despite coordinating its movements” with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), they bombed two NGO vehicles that were leaving a warehouse in Dei al-Balah, in the central region of the enclave, shortly after of having unloaded more than 100 tons of food that they had transported by sea.

WCK announced the immediate suspension of all operations in the region and said it would soon make a decision on the future of its humanitarian work in Gaza. Last month, the NGO revealed that it served more than 42 million meals in the enclave over a period of 175 days.

“This is not just an attack on WCK, this is an attack on humanitarian organizations that are operating in the most appalling conditions, where food is being used as a weapon of war,” said Chief Executive Erin Gore. executive of the NGO, cited by Reuters. “This is unforgivable.”

In response, the IDF said it is “carrying out a review at the highest level to understand the circumstances of this tragic incident”, stressing that it is making “great efforts to enable the safe delivery of humanitarian aid” to “the people of Gaza”, working “very closely with WCK”.

“Indiscriminate killings”

“The Israeli government must stop these indiscriminate murders”, contested, however, José Andrés, who founded the NGO in 2010. “It must stop restricting humanitarian aid, it must stop killing civilians and humanitarian workers and it must stop of using food as a weapon.”

In a message published on X (formerly Twitter), the chef Spanish said the “sisters and brothers” hit by an “IDF airstrike” had previously served in Ukraine, Turkey, Morocco, Indonesia and the Bahamas. “I am heartbroken and mourning their families and friends and our entire WCK family.”

The Australian Government confirmed the death of an Australian citizen, which it identified as Lalzawmi ‘Zomi’ Frankcom, and once again demanded an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” from Benjamin Netanyahu’s executive.

“This human tragedy should never have happened, it is completely unacceptable”, responded Anthony Albanese, Australian Prime Minister, in a statement, guaranteeing that his government will demand the “full” determination of responsibility for the death of Frankcom and the other six humanitarian workers .

The Government of Poland also confirmed the death of a Polish volunteer and, through X, stressed that “it does not agree with the failure to comply with international humanitarian law and the protection of civilians, including humanitarian workers.”

Pedro Sánchez, President of the Government of Spain, shared Chief Andrés’ message on social media and said he was “horrified” by the death of the seven humanitarian workers.

The United Kingdom and the United States also condemned the attack, but reported that they are investigating what happened, before commenting on the British and American victims (this one also has Canadian nationality), respectively.

Founded in 2010, WCK began its humanitarian activity by preparing and delivering meals to victims of natural disasters, and then expanded its scope of action to provide support to asylum seekers and war refugees.

The NGO has been involved in transport operations and delivery of humanitarian aid to the civilian population of the Gaza Strip through a maritime corridor from Cyprus. Earlier this week, it participated in the unloading of more than 330 tons of essential goods in the enclave.

The Government of Israel has been accused of limiting the entry and distribution of food and humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip, a territory that has been the scene of an Israeli military operation since October 7 last year, in response to the terrorist attack by Hamas against Israel, which claimed more than 1,200 lives and around 240 hostages – Palestinian health authorities say that the war in the enclave has already caused more than 30,000 deaths, most of them civilians.

Last week, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to take all necessary and effective actions to ensure that food is available in the Gaza Strip.