Four foreign aid workers from the American non-governmental organization (NGO) World Central Kitchen (WCK) and their Palestinian driver were killed on Tuesday, April 1, by an Israeli strike on their vehicle in the center of the Gaza Strip.
“Today, World Central Kitchen lost several of its sisters and brothers in an Israeli army strike in Gaza”said on the social network the boss and founder of this NGO, the cook José Andrès, confirming an announcement made earlier by the Hamas Minister of Health.
Humanitarians had just delivered food that had arrived by boat a few hours earlier to the north of the Palestinian enclave, while the territory is threatened with famine, according to the United Nations (UN).
“We have learned that members of the World Central Kitchen team were killed in an Israeli Defense Forces attack while working to support our humanitarian efforts to deliver food to Gaza. It’s a real tragedy. Aid workers and civilians should NEVER be a target. NEVER “, posted the American NGO on X, without specifying the identity of the victims.
The Hamas health ministry initially reported five “martyrs” arrived at a hospital in Deir Al-Balah, after “an Israeli airstrike targeting a vehicle of the American organization World Central Kitchen”.
“They hold British, Australian and Polish nationality and the fourth nationality is not known”reported in another press release this source from Hamas in power in Gaza, specifying that the fifth person was a Palestinian driver and translator.
An Agence France-Presse (AFP) correspondent saw five bodies and three foreign passports near the remains at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah. Images of the bodies and passports are also circulating on social networks.
An NGO involved in the distribution of food aid in Gaza
The Israeli army announced “review the tragic incident at the highest level to understand the circumstances” and assured to have “worked closely with WCK” for its distribution of aid to the people of Gaza.
“The Israeli government must put an end to this way of killing indiscriminately”, urged José Andrès. Israel, he continued, “must end the restriction on food aid, end the killing of civilians and aid workers, and stop using food as a weapon.”
The American NGO WCK is notably involved in sending aid by boat from Cyprus to the Gaza Strip and in the construction of a temporary pier in Gaza. A first boat unloaded its cargo there in mid-March under the supervision of the Israeli army.