Airstrikes in Gaza have left international aid workers with World Central Kitchen, a disaster-relief nonprofit that provides a vital food source for desperate Gazans, the group's founder and chef Jose Andrés. Died.
Andres said: on the X platform An airstrike reported late Monday in the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah killed “some of our sisters and brothers.” He said Israeli forces carried out the attack, but could not immediately confirm.
Graphic video footage of the aftermath showed the bodies of five people, three of whom had passports on their chests identifying them as nationals of Poland, Australia and the United Kingdom. Some of the victims were wearing protective gear with visible World Central Kitchen patches. The nationalities of the other two people could not be immediately confirmed.
The Israeli military said in a statement early Tuesday that it was “conducting a thorough investigation at the highest level to understand the circumstances of this tragic incident.”
The military said it was making “extensive efforts to ensure the safe delivery of humanitarian supplies and is working closely with WCK in critical efforts to provide food and humanitarian supplies to the people of Gaza.”
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his country's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was “urgently investigating” reports that an Australian aid worker had been killed.
“We are very concerned about the loss of life that is occurring in Gaza,” he said. “While my government has supported a sustainable ceasefire and called for the release of hostages, too many innocent Palestinian and Israeli lives have been lost in the Gaza-Hamas conflict.”
World Central Kitchen has become a key organization in the dangerous and politically fraught effort to distribute humanitarian aid to desperate Gazans. Israel has severely restricted aid reaching Gaza by land, making maritime transport an increasingly important means of delivering food to the enclave. On Saturday, a ship carrying 400 tons of food left Cyprus for Gaza.
The Israeli military said it had provided security and coordination to the group in previous operations.
World Central Kitchen said: in a statement On Monday, it referred to the Israel Defense Forces and said it was “aware of reports” that its personnel had been killed “in an Israeli military attack while working in support of humanitarian food delivery operations in Gaza.” announced.
“This is a tragedy,” the group said. “Humanitarian aid workers and civilians should never be targeted. Ever.”
In a social media post, Andres said the Israeli government “needs to stop this indiscriminate killing.”
“We need to stop restricting humanitarian aid, stop killing civilians and aid workers, and stop using food as a weapon.”
damian cave Contributed report from Sydney. Arik Toller Originally from Kansas City, Kansas Anushka Patil From New York.
