what we know about the death of humanitarian workers from the American NGO World Central Kitchen in a strike in Gaza

Seven collaborators were delivering food in the Gaza Strip on Monday when they were killed in a strike attributed to the Israeli army.

The White House has “broken heart”. Seven humanitarian workers from the American NGO World Central Kitchen (WCK) were killed in a strike while they were distributing food in the Gaza Strip on Monday April 1, the organization announced Tuesday, which attributed the raid to the Israeli army.

The latter opened an investigation, insured “review the tragic incident at the highest level to understand the circumstances” and claimed to have “worked closely with WCK” for its aid distribution. Here is what we know about this tragedy, almost six months after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas.

An NGO involved in sending aid to Gaza

WCK was founded in 2010 by Spanish-American chef José Andres and his wife. “World Central Kitchen was born from a simple idea at home, with my wife Patricia: when people are hungry, we have to send cooks. Not tomorrow, today”, can we read on the organization’s website.

The NGO notably intervened for food distribution in Haiti, Ukraine and Morocco during the earthquake of February 2023. Its teams as well as the Palestinian cooks working with it have served more than 32 million meals in the Gaza Strip since October, says WCK to New York Times.

In March, the NGO was involved in sending aid by boat from Cyprus to Gaza and building a temporary pier in the besieged Palestinian territory. “We try to achieve the impossible. It’s worth it to feed the people of Gaza.”declared José Andres, according to comments reported by the American daily.

WCK’s aid boat returned to Cyprus after delivering our first maritime humanitarian shipment to Gaza. Tea @openarms_fund crew joins our team as we prepare to dispatch our next vessel with more food. This was the first boat to reach Gaza in almost two decades.#ChefsForThePeople pic.twitter.com/bldzz1cpg2

— World Central Kitchen (@WCKitchen) March 17, 2024

A first boat unloaded its cargo there in mid-March under the supervision of the Israeli army.

Aid workers hit by strike as they leave warehouse

The NGO assures that its teams were hit by an Israeli strike while they were traveling aboard two armored cars bearing the WCK logo and a soft-bodied vehicle in the center of the Gaza Strip.

“Despite coordinating movements with Israeli forces, the convoy was hit as it was leaving the Deir el-Balah warehouse, where the team had unloaded more than 100 tons of humanitarian food aid being transported to Gaza by maritime”, writes the organization in its press release. According to the latter, all seven people on board the convoy were killed.

The Hamas Ministry of Health, for its part, announced that five victims had been transported to a hospital in Deir el-Balah, after “an Israeli airstrike targeting a vehicle of the American organization World Central Kitchen”. “I am heartbroken and grieving for their families and friends, as well as our entire WCK family”has reacted on X the chef José Andresenclosing “the Israeli government” has “put an end to this indiscriminate massacre”.

An Australian, a Briton and a Pole among the victims

An AFP correspondent present at Deir el-Balah hospital noted the presence of five bodies and three foreign passports near the remains. The AP news agency also published a photo of these three British, Polish and Australian passports.

Three victims were “originating from Australia, Poland, United Kingdom” World Central Kitchen confirmed, adding that a fourth victim had dual American and Canadian citizenship and a fifth was Palestinian. The Hamas Ministry of Health clarified for its part that this cFifth person was driver and translator. The identity of the last two victims is unknown.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed that an Australian woman, Zomi Frankcom, was among the victims. “This is completely unacceptable. Australia demands accountability for all those responsible for the deaths of aid workers”, he reacted. In a video published by WCK sur

WCK’s Zomi & Chef Oli are in our new Deir al-Balah kitchen where our team is cooking thousands of portions of rice with beef & vegetable stew today. We’re expanding this space so we can increase the amount of meals we produce for families in central Gaza daily. #ChefsForThePeople pic.twitter.com/dSO7GrJSOv

— World Central Kitchen (@WCKitchen) March 25, 2024

World Central Kitchen has announced that it will immediately cease operations in the region. “We will soon make decisions about the future of our work”adds the NGO.

The United States “deeply troubled” by this event

The United States, which is increasingly distancing itself from its Israeli ally after almost six months of war in the Gaza Strip, has declared itself “deeply troubled” by this event, as Adrienne Watson, spokesperson for the National Security Council, which reports to the White House, declared on X.

We are heartbroken and deeply troubled by the strike that killed @WCKitchen aid workers in Gaza. Humanitarian aid workers must be protected as they deliver aid that is desperately needed, and we urge Israel to swiftly investigate what happened.

— Adrienne Watson (@NSC_Spox) April 2, 2024

“Aid workers must be protected because they provide aid that [les Palestiniens] are in desperate need, and we urge Israel to promptly investigate what happened.”she continued Adrienne Watson.

At midday, Tuesday, Benjamin Netanyahu admitted strike “unintentional”. “This is happening in times of war and we will investigate to the end, promised the Israeli Prime Minister. We are in contact with the governments concerned and we will do everything to ensure that this does not happen again.”