New York, 4 April 2024 (TDI): World Central Kitchen (WCK) which is an NGO providing humanitarian assistance in war-ridden Gaza, lost seven of its members on Tuesday in an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) strike.
The attack has led to tremendous outrage, leading to a halt in the work of the nonprofit organization.
The UNGA President Dennis Francis has demonstrated his reaction in the aftermath of the strike. He has reported that he is, “outraged by the tragic killings of the World Central Kitchen’s aid workers by the Israeli strike.”
The seven lives lost in the airstrikes included Palestinian Saifeddine Issam Ayad Abutaha, 25, Australian Lalzawmi Frankcom, 43, Pole Damian Sobol, 35, American Canadian Jacob Flickinger, 33, and Britisher’s John Chapman, 57, James Henderson, 33, and James Kirby, 47.
World Central Kitchen
The World Central Kitchen is a non profit that carries out duties toward providing fresh meals in areas impacted by climate, humanitarian and community crisis.
It was founded in 2010 by Spanish American chef Jose Andres. He decided to utilize his culinary experience to help people devastated by the Haiti earthquake, according to the World Central Kitchen’s website.
World Central Kitchen has been operating in Gaza along with in Israel and Lebanon, since the war erupted in October of last year. By March 29, the non profit organization had send off 1,700 trucks with cooking equipment along with food from Egypt through the Rafah crossing.
Additionally, the World Central Kitchen had been exercising their duties through 68 community kitchens, delivering 2,30,000 meals from Jordan, through airdrops and overland. Also, the NGO had sent 435,000 meals by sea, according to BBC.
Israel targets WCK workers
The three vehicles carrying the workers of World Central Kitchen, were travelling in a “deconflicted zone”, when they were attacked by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). In a statement put forth by the World Central Kitchen, the vehicles were targeted and attacked despite coordinating its movements with the IDF.
The strike happened as the World Central Kitchen’s convoy was leaving the Deir al Balah warehouse. Over there, the convoy had unpacked over 100 tons of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza, through the maritime route.
Also Read: Palestine urges sustainable aid flow to Gaza Strip
Aftermath
The World Central Kitchen’s CEO Erin Gore reported that the strike, “is not only an attack against WCK, but an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the direst of situations where food is being used as a weapon of war.”
The World Central Kitchen has reported that the IDF is, “carrying out an in-depth examination at the highest levels to understand the circumstances of this tragic incident”. The Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has described the attack as “unintentional”, reporting that the Israeli authorities were “investigating the matter fully.”
Moreover, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also reported that Israel would “do everything possible to prevent this from happening again”, according to the Washington Post.
Furthermore, the US President Joe Biden has demonstrated anger over the drone strikes that killed aid workers in Gaza.
The US President released a statement reporting that Israel, “has not done enough to protect aid workers trying to deliver desperately needed help to civilians”, as thousands of Palestinians are caught in the midst of war, that has left people without food, water and other necessary supplies.
The World Health Organization’s Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, asserted that the World Central Kitchen NGO in Gaza, should “never have been” targeted by Israel as their convoys were “clearly marked”.
The WHO Director General also reported that, delivering humanitarian aid in Gaza is “already difficult and dangerous”, iterating that many people will go without food as the World Central Kitchen had “quite understandably” halted its operations.
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