World Central Kitchen announced on Sunday that it would resume operations in the Gaza Strip, four weeks after an Israeli airstrike killed seven aid workers.
The nonprofit organization, founded by celebrity chef Jose Andres, suspended its operations delivering vital food aid in Gaza after the killing. Before the April 1 strike that killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers, the organization had sent about two tons of food to Gaza. The organization has 276 trucks loaded with the equivalent of almost 8 million meals ready to pass through the Rafah crossing in southern Gaza.
“The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains dire,” World Central Kitchen said in a statement. “We are returning to business with the same energy and dignity and are focused on feeding as many people as possible.”
World Central Kitchen said food will be sent by all possible means, including land, air and sea. The organization has dozens of community kitchens along with high-production kitchens in the cities of Rafah and Deir al-Balah in Gaza. Construction is underway on his third high production kitchen in Mawasi.
“WCK has built a strong team of Palestinians to advance the torch,” the group said. “Our model has always been to work in partnership with communities: Puerto Ricans feeding Puerto Ricans, Moroccans feeding Moroccans, Ukrainians feeding Ukrainians, and now Palestinians are feeding Palestinians.”
Jacob Flickinger, 33, a dual U.S. and Canadian citizen, was among those killed in the April 1 incident. Other WCK staff killed in the attack, which the Israeli military called a “grave mistake,” were identified as Palestinians, British, Poles and Australians.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
The Israeli military announced this on April 5th. 2 executives fired It also reprimanded three other people who played a role in the deadly drone attack for mishandling critical information and violating military rules of engagement.
“The incident should not have happened,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement summarizing the findings of a seven-page investigation by retired Gen. Yoav Ha'even. “Those who authorized the strike were confident that they were targeting armed Hamas operatives and not WCK personnel.The strike on aid vehicles was a result of mistaken identity, poor decision-making, and “a serious mistake resulting from a serious failure by the attack” that violates standard operating procedures. ”
WCK noted that the IDF apologized and said it had changed its operational rules.
“While there are no concrete guarantees, we continue to press for answers and push for change, with the goal of better protecting WCK and all NGO workers who serve selflessly in the worst humanitarian conditions,” World Central Kitchen said on Sunday. I will continue to advocate.” “Our demands for an impartial and international investigation remain unchanged.”
People across war-torn Gaza are starving. According to the United Nations children's charity UNICEF, one third of children under the age of two in Gaza are now acutely malnourished. International aid agencies say more than 1 million people, half of Gaza's population, are currently facing famine. World Central Kitchen noted that it had to decide whether to stop aid during the hunger crisis or resume aid, knowing that it would put aid workers at risk.
“These are the most difficult conversations to have and we considered all viewpoints in our deliberations,” WCK said. “Ultimately, we decided that we must continue to feed and continue our mission of feeding people during the most difficult of times.”
Israel accused Hamas of preventing at least some of the aid entering Gaza from reaching those in need.
