On April 2, a day after an Israeli attack on an NGO convoy in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, staff from the US-based aid organization World Central Kitchen wait in a hospital morgue. The organization announced on Monday. It will resume operations. Photo credit: Ismael Mohammad/UPI
April 29 (UPI) — Four weeks after an Israeli Defense Forces airstrike killed seven World Central Kitchen employees delivering food in the Gaza Strip, the nonprofit organization announced Monday that it will resume operations.
Israel attacked a convoy of World Central Kitchen vehicles marked on April 1, despite coordinating its route with Israeli military authorities. WCK officially ceased operations immediately due to safety concerns.
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“The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains dire,” World Central Kitchen said. “We are returning to business with the same energy and dignity, focused on feeding as many people as possible.
“To date we have distributed more than 43 million meals and are eager to distribute millions more. Food is a universal right and our work in Gaza , was the most life-saving mission in our organization's 14-year history.”
The organization said it has 276 trucks capable of delivering about 8 million meals and can be accessed from the ground through the Rafah intersection. It also announced that it would send aid trucks through Jordan.
“We are exploring maritime corridors and using the port of Ashdod,” World Central Kitchen said. “In addition to the 68 community kitchens, we are building a third high-production kitchen in Mawasi. The other two are in Rafah and Deri Albara.”
Despite Israeli authorities saying they are investigating the airstrike, Kitchen continues to demand an independent investigation into the deadly incident. Israel initially claimed the attack was caused by a misidentified vehicle at night.
