(Washington) Israel’s offensive on Gaza is a “war on humanity itself,” said World Central Kitchen founder and leader José Andrés, calling for a “much more thorough” and “independent” investigation. on the strike that killed the seven workers of his NGO.
“I saw with my own eyes what happened in Ukraine, entire cities wiped off the map by Russia and Putin. What Prime Minister Netanyahu is doing is exactly the same thing,” said the renowned chef based in Washington, in an interview broadcast on Sunday on American television ABC.
He returned, moved and indignant, to the Israeli airstrikes which killed seven members of his NGO working to deliver food to the population of Gaza.
An “unforgivable” act according to him, which pushed the United States to further increase pressure on its Israeli ally to deliver more humanitarian aid.
PHOTO ANDER GILLENEA, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE ARCHIVES
The founder and director of World Central Kitchen José Andrés
The Israeli military’s investigation into the strike established a series of errors. This investigation was “quick” but “must be much more thorough” and “conducted independently,” declared José Andrés.
He asked Israel to provide “more information”, “good quality images” and “radio exchanges between officers and soldiers stationed” during the attack.
But the problem goes much deeper, he says: “It just keeps repeating itself. »
“I am saddened that it is the death of six foreigners that is causing this scandal,” he told ABC. The Palestinians of Gaza “have names, have family names, these people matter, they cannot be voiceless, nor the ghosts of wars that make no sense. »
According to him, this conflict “does not seem to be against terrorism” but rather “a war against humanity itself.” »
A well-known face in the restaurant world in the American capital, José Andrés spoke during the week with Joe Biden.
The American president, he said, can at the same time guarantee Israel’s security and “defend and support the rights of the Palestinians, not to die just trying to get a piece of bread.” »
The death of seven of its workers there pushed the NGO to cease its operations in the Palestinian territory, where the majority of the 2.4 million inhabitants are threatened with famine according to the UN.