“An independent investigation is the only way to uncover the truth about what happened,” the Washington, D.C.-based charity said in a statement.
WASHINGTON — World Central Kitchen is calling for an independent investigation following the death of an aid worker. The Washington DC-based charity lost seven staff members to Israeli airstrikes in Gaza.
World Central Kitchen: “An independent investigation is the only way to find out the truth about what happened.'' stated in a statement It was posted on social media early Thursday morning.
The team was there feeding people in war-torn areas. The group claims a convoy leaving a warehouse where it was unloading food and supplies was hit. Israel admitted negligence and called the incident a case of mistaken identity.
But the group's founder, chef José Andres, says his employees were targeted.
“It wasn't just bad luck. It was a situation of, 'Oh, we dropped the bomb in the wrong place. The IDF[Israel Defense Forces]knew what we were doing. The communication was clear,'” Andres said. he said.
Andres says he doesn't know when World Central Kitchen will reopen in Gaza.
Meanwhile, the United Nations announced that the night movement of aid workers would also be suspended for 48 hours due to security concerns following the strike. President Joe Biden is also scheduled to speak by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday about the attack.
The full statement from World Central Kitchen is below.
On April 1, 2024, the Israeli Defense Forces killed seven humanitarian aid workers employed by World Central Kitchen (WCK), an internationally recognized humanitarian organization. The aid workers killed were nationals of Australia, Canada/USA (dual citizenship), Gaza, Poland, and the United Kingdom. Israel acknowledged the killing, but called it “a tragic incident in which our troops unintentionally harmed a non-combatant” and said it was “what happens in war.”
This was a military attack involving multiple attacks, targeting three WCK vehicles. All three vehicles were carrying civilians. These were marked as WCK vehicles. And their actions were in full accordance with Israeli authorities, who were aware of their itinerary, route and humanitarian mission.
We are calling on the governments of Australia, Canada, the United States, Poland and the United Kingdom to conduct independent third-party investigations into whether these attacks were intentional or in violation of international law. asked for cooperation. . Yesterday, to ensure the integrity of the investigation, we requested that the Israeli government provide all documents, communications, video and/or audio recordings, and other material that may be related to the April 1 attack. requested to be saved immediately.
An independent investigation is the only way to find out what happened, ensure transparency and accountability for those responsible, and prevent future attacks on humanitarian workers.
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