 "Members of \"World Central Kitchen\" prepare food for Palestinians, in the location given as Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. Reuters")
An Israeli airstrike in Gaza killed at least seven people on Monday.
The workers were working for World Central Kitchen (WCK), a food charity founded by celebrity chef José Andrés, and were on their way to deliver desperately needed food aid that had arrived by sea when they were struck late that evening.
The WCK said early Tuesday that the seven killed include citizens of Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom and a US-Canada dual citizen. It did not provide a breakdown and said at least one Palestinian was also killed, as per an AP report.
Israel has said it is investigating the incident.
A human tragedy
Those killed in the incident in central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah included citizens of Poland, Australia and Britain, as well as one Palestinian, a spokesperson for the Hamas-run Gaza government media office said late on Monday.
“We are aware of reports that members of the World Central Kitchen team have been killed in an IDF attack while working to support our humanitarian food delivery efforts in Gaza,” WCK posted on X. “This is a tragedy. Humanitarian aid workers and civilians should NEVER be a target. EVER.”
In a statement, the Islamist group Hamas said the attack aimed to “terrorise” workers of international humanitarian agencies and deter them from pursuing their missions.
Commenting on the reports, the Israeli military said it was conducting a thorough review at the highest levels to understand the circumstances of what it called a tragic incident.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“The IDF makes extensive efforts to enable the safe delivery of humanitarian aid, and has been working closely with WCK in their vital efforts to provide food and humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza,” the military statement said.
Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese confirmed the death of Australian aid worker Lalzawmi “Zomi” Frankcom and said his government had contacted Israel to demand those responsible be held accountable.
“This is a human tragedy that should never have occurred, that is completely unacceptable and Australia will seek full and proper accountability,” he said at a news conference on Tuesday.
Albanese said innocent civilians and those doing humanitarian work needed to be protected and reiterated his call for a sustainable ceasefire in Gaza along with more aid to help those suffering from “tremendous deprivation.”
Video obtained by Reuters showed paramedics moving bodies into a hospital and displaying the passports of three of those killed.
What we know about WCK
The WCK is a US-based non-governmental organisation that was set up by Michelin-starred celebrity chef Jose Andres and his wife Patricia in 2010 following a major earthquake in Haiti, initially to provide emergency food aid to survivors.
WCK expanded from there to provide resilience training, meals and support to survivors of other natural disasters, as well as refugees and people affected by conflict. It has served tens of millions of meals in Ukraine since Russia’s 2022 invasion.
The organisation was also involved in the first shipment of aid to Gaza via a sea corridor from Cyprus in March. A second WCK maritime aid shipment carrying 332 tons of food was due to arrive in Gaza early this week.
WCK said last month it had served more than 42 million meals in Gaza over 175 days.
Founder Andres is a Spanish-American chef, restaurateur and cookbook author. His avant-garde restaurant minibar by Jose Andres in Washington, DC, has two Michelin stars. He was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Barack Obama in 2015.
**‘**Heartbroken and grieving’
Andres said on X he was heartbroken and grieving for the families and friends of those who died in the airstrike.
“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. No more innocent lives lost. Peace starts with our shared humanity. It needs to start now,” he said.
Palestinian health officials said a separate Israeli air strike on a house killed six people in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians were sheltering.
With inputs from Reuters