CNN
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Seven aid workers killed in Israeli military attacks delivering food to starving civilians in the Gaza Strip included foreign nationals, according to the nonprofit organization World Central Kitchen and authorities in the besieged enclave. It is said that
World Central Kitchen said the aid workers were traveling through a “non-conflict zone” in two armored cars and a “soft-skin vehicle” bearing the charity's logo.
“Despite coordination with the IDF, the convoy was hit while leaving a warehouse in Deir al-Balah, where the team unloaded more than 100 tons of humanitarian food aid that had been transported to Gaza by sea route. ,” the group said in a statement. statement.
The group said those killed included dual citizens of the United States and Canada, as well as Australian, Polish, British and Palestinian nationals.
“Today, we, World Central Kitchen and the world are saddened by the loss of a beautiful life to a targeted attack by the Israeli Defense Forces,” World Central Kitchen CEO Erin Gore said in a statement. I am heartbroken and appalled.”
“Their love of feeding others, the determination they embodied to show that humanity is better than anything else, and the impact they had on countless lives will be forever remembered and cherished. “I guess so,” Gore added.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was “conducting a thorough investigation at the highest level to understand the circumstances of this tragic incident.”
Footage obtained by CNN shows the bloody bodies of several victims wearing World Central Kitchen vests after an airstrike in the central city of Deir al-Balah.
Ahmed Zakot/Reuters
A World Central Kitchen relief worker looks at a vehicle killed in an airstrike.
World Central Kitchen said it had suspended operations following the deadly attack and was evaluating the future of its operations in Gaza.
The Washington, D.C.-based charity provides meals to disaster-hit areas and communities around the world. This is a dire situation in Gaza, where 2.2 million people don't have enough to eat and aid agencies warn half the population is on the brink of starvation and starvation due to Israeli aid cuts and widespread aid. It is one of the few aid organizations delivering essential food. destruction.
“today @WCKitchen We lost several sisters and brothers to IDF airstrikes in Gaza,” said José Andrés, founder of World Central Kitchen. I wrote to X. “We are heartbroken and saddened by their families and friends and our entire WCK family.”
“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 added.
“These are people… angels… I served with them in Ukraine, Gaza, Turkey, Morocco, the Bahamas, Indonesia. They are not faceless… They are not nameless.”
World Central Kitchen/X
Among those confirmed dead was Australian national Lalzaumi “Zomi” Francome (left).
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese identified the Australian victim as Lalzaumi “Zomi” Francom.
“This is a person who volunteered in Australia to help people during the bushfires. This is a person who has traveled overseas to provide aid through this charity to people suffering from severe poverty in Gaza. He was a volunteer,” Albanese said.
“Australia expects full responsibility for the deaths of aid workers and this is completely unacceptable.”
He said the Australian government had already been in direct contact with the Israeli government and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade had requested a “summoning” of Israel's ambassador to Australia.
Saif Issam Abu Taha, a Palestinian driver and translator working at World Central Kitchen, was named as one of the victims by Gaza's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.
Hamas condemned the attack in a statement on Tuesday and called on the international community and the United Nations to “take action.”
“This crime is a continuing policy of the deliberate killing of innocent civilians, international relief teams, and humanitarian organizations by occupation forces in an attempt to terrorize those working there and prevent them from carrying out their humanitarian duties. This confirms once again that the government is committed to achieving this goal,” the group said. That statement.
Barak Rabid, Middle East expert and CNN political and world affairs analyst, said his sources in Israel described “confusion” and “embarrassment” following the death of a World Central Kitchen employee. said.
World Central Kitchen was “an NGO that the IDF worked very closely with, and part of World Central Kitchen's work was transporting food through the sea to Gaza,” Rabid said. Ta.
“IDF wanted to show that by working with this organization, we are addressing food insecurity in Gaza,” he added. “And now, several days later, the IDF has allegedly attacked aid workers for this organization.”
Rabid noted that this is not the first time aid workers have allegedly been attacked by Israeli forces. The majority of aid workers killed were Palestinians and their families.
At least 165 staff members of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) have been killed since the latest war began following a rampage of murders and kidnappings by Hamas in southern Israel on October 7, the agency announced last month. did.
In recent years, World Central Kitchen has provided food relief to thousands of people after an earthquake devastated Haiti, Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, wildfires burned Southern California and the refugee crisis intensified on the Venezuelan border. The adjustment became a hot topic.
In March, the nonprofit led an effort to transport 200 tons of food aid to Gaza, which it said was the first sea shipment of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian enclave.
The shipment contained food for 500,000 meals that World Central Kitchen was to distribute to the Strip, where hundreds of thousands of people were at risk of starvation.
This is a developing story and is being updated.
