No matter how Israel's military operations in Gaza have evolved since October 7, Israel's latest attack on the aid organization World Central Kitchen (WCK) on April 1 marks the start of a siege. There is no doubt that this is a war being waged against all life in the district.
Everyone appears to be at risk, both civilians in desperate need of help and aid workers desperately trying to provide it.
A day after the bombing of a WCK convoy in the Gaza Strip that killed the entire operational team, Israeli newspaper Haaretz claimed that the attack was planned, based on false information that there were armed Hamas fighters.
Since then, WCK founder José Andres told reporters that Israel had targeted seven staff members “systematically, vehicle by vehicle.”
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Starting with Türkiye Unpacking
Even if Israel's story is true, as questionable as it may be, and its leaders apologized earlier this week, this war is not as much about the “win-at-all” goal as many of us have long suspected. It still proves that it is carried out with cost”.
And since it is ultimately civilians who bear such sacrifices, any death would seem so unconscionable. Whether it's an aid worker, a journalist, a medical professional or a child, at best they become collateral damage, and at worst, they become targets themselves.
deliberate tactics
Although the attack on WCK is being portrayed as a failure, we saw around 200 aid workers killed in a short period of six months. We recently lost a colleague from US Near East Refugee Assistance (Anera), the largest NGO providing hot food to the starving Palestinians and Unruwa victims of this war, along with WCK.
Even if we believe that each aid worker death was an accident, we cannot ignore the many other attacks on the aid community.
In the face of brutal attacks on all life in Gaza, international law and treaties appear to offer little protection to aid workers.
Even if we believe that each aid worker killed was an accident and not a deliberate attack, we cannot ignore the many other attacks on aid communities.
Whether it's baseless smears to cut off funding to Unrwa or the detention of aid workers on false terrorism charges without providing any evidence, they all serve the purpose of reducing the humanitarian space in Gaza. fulfill.
The main goal appears to be to create an environment too dangerous for Israel to operate by attacking NGOs distributing aid, hospitals, and journalists. After the attack on WCK, ships carrying aid that could not be delivered to Gaza immediately turned back and the operation was suspended.
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The Israeli military has made the Gaza Strip too dangerous to provide aid and support to, making it uninhabitable for Palestinians and denying Israel victory as civilians pay the ultimate price. is ensured.
My organization, Action for Humanity, and its subsidiary Syria Relief know this all too well.
Syria faces a similar situation, where 336 aid workers have been killed during the 13-year civil war. We lost six of his colleagues in my organization alone to his “win at all costs” approach to warfighting.
Decline in support
I feel that the conversation is moving from whether Western governments should withdraw their support for Israel to how Western governments should withdraw their support for Israel.
A poll of British citizens conducted by YouGov and commissioned by Action for Humanity found that 59 per cent of the public believe Israeli forces are violating human rights in Gaza. This was before direct attacks on WCK aid workers. Three British nationals were also included.
This attack has understandably sparked global condemnation, but there are concerns that such an outrageous act may be linked to the nationality of those tragically killed. Over the past six months, innocent Palestinians have been killed every minute in the deafening silence of Western governments.
There is no doubt that killing all aid workers is a war crime and should be widely condemned, as should targeting all civilians.
All war crimes are similar and should not be differentiated or obscured based on nationality, race, ethnicity, or occupation. We must do everything to stop war crimes and this genocidal war immediately.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect Middle East Eye's editorial policy.
