DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (PEN) — An Israeli airstrike killed seven aid workers with World Central Kitchen, leading the charity to suspend delivery Tuesday of vital food aid to Gaza, where Israel’s offensive has pushed hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to the brink of starvation.
Cyprus, which has played a key role in trying to establish a sea route to bring food to the territory, said ships that recently arrived were turning back — with some 240 tons of undelivered aid.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged that the country’s forces had carried out the “unintended strike” on “innocent people in the Gaza Strip.” He says officials are looking into the strike and would “do everything for this not to happen again.”
Footage showed the bodies, several wearing protective gear with the charity’s logo, at a hospital in the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah. Those killed include three British nationals, an Australian, a Polish national, an American-Canadian dual citizen and a Palestinian, according to hospital records.
A man displays blood-stained British, Polish, and Australian passports after an Israeli airstrike, in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Monday, April 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A man displays blood-stained British, Polish, and Australian passports after an Israeli airstrike, in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, April 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
World Central Kitchen, a food charity founded by celebrity chef José Andrés, was key to the recently opened sea route, which offered some hope for northern Gaza — where the U.N. says much of the population is on the brink of starvation, largely cut off from the rest of the territory by Israeli forces.
Andrés — whose charity has operated in several countries wracked by wars or natural disasters, including Israel after the attack that triggered the current conflict — said he was “heartbroken” by the deaths of his colleagues.
“The Israeli government needs to stop this indiscriminate killing. It needs to stop restricting humanitarian aid, stop killing civilians and aid workers, and stop using food as a weapon,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
The charity said the team was traveling in a three-car convoy that included two armored vehicles, and its movements had been coordinated with the Israeli army.
Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the top military spokesman, said earlier that officials have been “reviewing the incident at the highest levels.” He said an independent investigation will be launched that “will help us reduce the risk of such an event from occurring again.”
Erin Gore, the CEO of the charity, 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. This is unforgivable.”
UNRWA, the main U.N. agency in Gaza, said in its latest report that 173 of its workers have been killed in the territory since the war began.
Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel in a surprise attack on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people and abducting around 250 hostages. Israel responded with one of the deadliest and most destructive offensives in recent history
