Four international employees of the aid organization World Central Kitchen and their driver were killed in an air strike in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military announced an investigation.
Four international employees of the aid organization World Central Kitchen and their Palestinian driver were killed in an airstrike apparently carried out by the Israeli military.
Five bodies were seen in footage from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah. Several of them wore protective clothing with the World Central Kitchen logo. Hospital staff presented the passports of three of the dead – a British, an Australian and a Polish citizen. The fourth employee is said to be Irish.
World Central Kitchen confirmed that members of their team were killed in an attack. On the social media platform X, WCK wrote: “This is a tragedy. Humanitarian workers and civilians should never be a target. Ever.” The Israeli army wrote on Telegram overnight that the military was conducting “a thorough investigation at the highest level to understand the circumstances of this tragic incident.”
Employees distributed relief supplies
The victims’ car was hit after employees helped deliver relief supplies that had arrived hours earlier on a ship from Cyprus in the north of the coastal strip, Mahmoud Thabet, a medic with the Palestinian Red Crescent, told the AP news agency.
Ships brought around 400 tons of food and other aid to the Gaza Strip on Monday as part of a delivery organized by the United Arab Emirates and the charity World Central Kitchen, founded by celebrity chef José Andrés.
Other Aid organizations refrain from dangerous deliveries
Israel has banned UNRWA, the main UN agency in the Gaza Strip, from delivering supplies to the north. Other aid organizations have stressed that it is too dangerous to send convoys of trucks north.
The Israeli Defense Forces are making extensive efforts to facilitate the safe delivery of humanitarian aid and are working closely with World Central Kitchen to provide food and humanitarian assistance to the people of the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army statement said.
WCK delivers groceries and prepares meals for those in need. The organization said it served more than 42 million meals in the Gaza Strip in 175 days last month. On “Our more than 60 kitchens in southern and central Gaza cook hundreds of thousands of meals every day (…),” said WCK.