WWhen the Israeli military fired three missiles at a humanitarian aid convoy run by the leading international charity World Central Kitchen, killing seven aid workers, most of them foreigners, the incident became a global phenomenon. caused a fear reaction. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attack on the convoy was unintentional and lamented the loss of innocent lives as a “tragic incident”, adding: “This is what happens in wartime.” .
But that can't be true. Aid workers operating in combat zones operate under dangerous conditions, but procedures are in place to ensure their safety. This includes coordinating with the Israeli military to achieve what is called “deconflict avoidance.” This is a system that notifies relevant military forces of their locations and operations, and maintains regular contact with them, in order to avoid aid organizations from being attacked. World Central Kitchen confirmed that its employees were traveling through the conflict zone in two armored vehicles and a third vehicle when the attack on the convoy occurred.footage of the aftermath Indicated One of the vehicles had a large hole in its roof, and it appeared that ammunition had driven straight through the charity's prominently displayed logo. Erin Gore, CEO of World Central Kitchen, called the attack “unacceptable.”
The group's founder, celebrity chef José Andres, echoed Netanyahu's claim that the incident – three consecutive car attacks in three different locations about 1.5 miles apart – was a coincidence. “This was not just an unfortunate situation,” he told Reuters. Oops, I dropped the bomb in the wrong place. An internal investigation by the Israeli military concluded that the attack was a “serious mistake” resulting from a series of errors and violations, chief among them misidentifying the vehicle as containing Hamas operatives. But World Central Kitchen is calling for an independent investigation. “The Israel Defense Forces are unable to credibly investigate their own failures in Gaza,” the investigation found.
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The attack on the World Central Kitchen convoy was tragic, but not unthinkable. That's because Israel's ongoing war in Gaza is proving to be one of the deadliest for humanitarian aid workers. At least 203 aid workers have been killed since Israel launched its military operation to eradicate Hamas from Gaza on October 7, according to the Aid Worker Security Database, which tracks attacks on humanitarian relief workers around the world. Murdered. This number is more than the number of aid worker deaths that typically occur around the world each year combined.
Arvind Das, leader of the US-based International Rescue Committee's Gaza crisis team, told TIME that aid workers working in conflict zones typically have no access to safe access to provide essential life-saving services. He said such guarantees were lacking in Israel's wars. In Gaza, targeting aid workers has become more of a feature than a bug. There are multiple instances in which the organization and its staff have been the target of Israeli military action, including the near-fatal airstrike involving Das. On January 18, he and his group of doctors were on a U.S.-British-led medical mission in Gaza when an apartment complex in the coastal town of Almawasi, within the border security zone, was damaged. A doctor was inside during an Israeli airstrike. The group was lucky to escape with only injuries, but Das said it could have easily ended differently. Three months later, the Israeli military There is no explanation for targeting a house whose coordinates were shared with Israeli authorities through the United Nations conflict resolution process. (The Israeli military did not respond to requests for comment.)
“Almost every international organization has faced a similar situation at some point,” Das said, adding that the situation in Gaza has so far been compared to Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Central Africa and Ecuador. “This is not a one-time event. That's what's so concerning.”
These threats extend beyond aid workers. At least 95 journalists have been killed in Gaza since October 7, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. This period was the deadliest period for journalists since NGOs began tracking casualties in 1992. The war has similarly taken a devastating toll on medical workers. Christina Ville, director of the humanitarian research group Insecurity Insight, told Time magazine that the organization had identified the place and date of death of at least 176 medical workers killed in Gaza, but the actual date of death is unknown. It added that the number is believed to be more than 450. .
“The Israeli government has a decades-long track record of committing serious violations of the laws of war, including war crimes,” Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director at Human Rights Watch, told Time Magazine. , noted that HRW has documented instances of illegal conduct. In addition to indiscriminate airstrikes, there were also attacks on hospitals and ambulances. “It is precisely the impunity for decades of illegal attacks and other gross human rights violations, including Israeli apartheid against Palestinians, that has led to the unprecedented atrocities that have occurred over the past six months. ”
The deadly attack on the World Central Kitchen convoy has heightened international attention to Israel's war effort in Gaza, which enters its sixth month this week. The reaction from world leaders, including the United States, Britain and Israel's closest allies in Europe, was to say the attack was “astounding” and that “far too many aid workers and civilians were killed in Gaza.” “Israel has fallen,'' and “Israel.'' Not doing enough to protect aid workers who are delivering desperately needed aid to civilians. ” These statements represent some of the strongest public condemnations of Israel's actions in Gaza to date, but it is unclear what changes they will bring.
read more: Why removing Prime Minister Netanyahu is unlikely to change Israel's approach to Gaza
But what is clear is that ordinary Palestinians in the Gaza Strip will pay the heaviest price for this tragedy. The attacks have already had a chilling effect on humanitarian operations in Gaza. In addition to World Central Kitchen, his two other charities, Anera and Project Hope announced that they are suspending operations in Gaza until further notice. This decision will have a devastating impact on people who are facing imminent or already facing starvation. In the absence of these aid organizations, Shakir says the responsibility lies with the occupying power, Israel, to provide Gazans with the food and aid they need to survive. But if the past six months have shown any indication that the Israeli government is blocking aid supplies and denying even the existence of famine in Gaza, it is that the Palestinians It doesn't bode well for the country.
“This is heartbreaking, but also absolutely shameful,” IRC's Das said of the situation. “This is a shame for all of us.”
