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Jose Andrés, founder of World Central Kitchen, is mourning the loss of seven workers who were killed in an Israeli airstrike while delivering food to civilians facing starvation in the Gaza Strip. Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted that the IDF had “unintentionally attacked innocent people.” new york times Andres' editorial remembers the victims as more than “ordinary aid workers or collateral damage of war.”
“The best of humanity is brought out in the worst situations imaginable – after hurricanes, earthquakes, bombs and gunfire. Not once or twice, but all the time,” Andres said in a statement released Wednesday morning. I wrote about it in an article. “The seven people killed on the World Central Kitchen mission in Gaza on Monday were some of humanity's greatest people. They are not faceless and nameless.”
Among the seven people killed were three members of the WCK relief team, including Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha, 25, from Palestine. Damian Sobol, 35 years old from Poland. And Jacob Flickinger is a 33-year-old from the United States and Canada. Three members of the WCK security team from the UK were also killed. Among them was John Chapman, 57. James Henderson, 33 years old. Zomi Francom, a 43-year-old WCK relief leader from Australia, also died.
The attack occurred as the team was leaving a warehouse in Deir al-Balah, where the workers were traveling through the conflict zone in two armored vehicles apparently bearing the World Central Kitchen logo. Ta. A statement released by World Central Kitchen on Tuesday morning said they had just unloaded 100 tons of food aid.
To Andres, who worked with these team members in Ukraine, Turkey, Morocco, the Bahamas, Indonesia, Mexico, Gaza and Israel, they were “more than heroes.” He writes: “Their movement was based on the simple belief that food is a universal human right. It is not about good or bad, rich or poor, left or right. No matter what religion you belong to. It doesn’t matter if you have them, just how many meals you need.”
The chef added that with their help, they provided approximately 2 million hot meals to people across Israel alone and had “extensive communication” with Israeli officials and the military. “At the same time,” he continued, “we have been working closely with community leaders in Gaza and with Arab countries in the region. Otherwise, we would not be able to bring ships full of food to Gaza.”
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said of Israel's killing of our team, 'That happens in war.' It was a direct attack on a clearly marked vehicle whose movements were known to the IDF.” Andres explained, adding that the mission itself was critical because of the very policies that prevent aid from easily flowing into Gaza. The team was delivering some 400 tonnes of food that arrived by sea, the second shipment of its kind.
“This food aid is so scarce and desperately needed that our team members are literally risking their lives,” he added. “According to the Global Initiative for Integrated Food Security Tiering, half of Gaza's population is 1.1 million people at immediate risk of starvation. There is not enough food to feed the people of Gaza. If there had been, the team would not have been traveling overland in trucks.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attack would be investigated and “we will do our best to prevent it from happening again.” In response, André writes: “We welcome the Government's commitment to carry out an inquiry into how and why the families at World Central Kitchen were killed. That inquiry must start from the top, not just the bottom. ”
“Israel is better than the way this war is being waged. It's better than blocking the delivery of food and medicine to civilians. It's better than killing aid workers who were working with the Israel Defense Forces. It’s better,” he wrote. “The Israeli government must open more land routes for food and medicine today. It must stop killing civilians and aid workers today. The long journey to peace must begin today. yeah.”
Andres went on to say, “After the worst terrorist attack in history, in the worst of conditions, it's time for Israel's best talent to show up. We can bomb every building in Gaza and still save the hostages.'' We cannot win this war by starving the entire nation.”
