Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Tuesday that the latest Israeli airstrike killed seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) humanitarian aid workers as they were delivering food to Gaza.
“Unfortunately over the last day there was a tragic incident of an unintended strike of our forces on innocent people in the Gaza Strip,” the prime minister said in a statement on Tuesday.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) also made a statement, acknowledging that it carried out the strike and admitted that the incident should have never happened.
The WCK was founded by celebrity chef Jose Andres in 2010 when he decided to deliver food to Haiti after an earthquake devastated the area.
The convoy had the charity’s emblazoned logo and was coordinating its movement with the Israeli military. It was hit after unloading more than 100 tons of food at the warehouse in Deir el-Balah.
The workers killed were citizens of Australia, the U.K. and Poland, along with Palestinians and a U.S. and Canada dual citizen, according to Al Jazeera.
“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,” WCK’s CEO Erin Gore said.
“This is not only an attack against WCK, this is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the most dire of situations where food is being used as a weapon of war,” she added. “This is unforgivable.”
Angels that the only crime they committed was feeding people….😢😔🫶🏻🕊️ https://t.co/fcvHUDvZ3Q
— Chef José Andrés 🕊️🥘🍳 (@chefjoseandres) April 3, 2024
According to WCK, the organization will be “pausing our operations immediately in the region” and “will be making decisions about the future of our work soon.”
Other humanitarian aid organizations also suspended their operations after the incident, including Project HOPE and Anera.
The Times of Israel stated that an IDF probe of the incident will be released to the public in a few days.
The attack on the aid workers has caused a major uproar with some stating that the attack was proof that Israel was purposely hindering aid to the region.
The U.S. responded to the incident, with President Joe Biden calling Andres to give his condolences. Being Israel’s ally, the White House reported that there was no evidence that the attack was deliberate but stated that it was “outraged” by the death of humanitarian aid workers.
I am outraged and heartbroken by the deaths of seven humanitarian workers from World Central Kitchen, including one American, in Gaza yesterday.
Incidents like yesterday’s simply should not happen.
Here is my full statement. pic.twitter.com/Nl2jq8wqTt
— President Biden (@POTUS) April 3, 2024
“We were outraged to learn of an IDF [Israeli army] strike that killed a number of civilian humanitarian workers yesterday from the World Central Kitchen,” White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters during a briefing in Washington.
Since the start of Israel’s war with Hamas, which began with the massacre of more than 1,000 Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023, 196 humanitarian aid workers have been killed in Gaza, according to the United Nations.
