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The partner of one of the seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed in this week’s Israeli airstrike in Gaza is demanding answers about the deadly attack.
“We need some answers,” Jacob Flickinger’s partner Sandy Leclerc, who has dual U.S. and Canadian citizenship, told ABC News Thursday in her first television interview since the attack. “This situation is so opaque that we need the truth about what happened.”
“Please, Mr. Biden, tell us the truth about what happened,” she asked President Joe Biden, speaking to ABC News correspondent Phil Lipoff.
Flickinger, 33, and six other WCK aid workers were arrested on Monday night when a convoy of three vehicles, including two armored vehicles, arrived at Deli in central Gaza, where the aid workers were stationed. After leaving the Al Bala warehouse, he was attacked and killed by the Israeli Defense Forces. WCK said in a statement earlier this week that it helped unload more than 100 tons of humanitarian aid shipped to Gaza by sea.
Asked by Lipov what he would say to world leaders, Leclerc advocated peace.
Flickinger “was always fighting to bring more peace to this world,” Leclerc said, adding that the need to help people was “deep in his heart.”
“I think we need to bring more peace to this world,” she said.
Leclerc said Flickinger, a Canadian military veteran and father of a young son, called him every day to say goodnight. On the day of the attack, she did not receive a call from him. Instead, one of her co-workers called her and told her he had been killed, she said.
“I’m devastated by this news,” said an emotional Leclerc. “He was a part of me.”
Leclerc said Flickinger was a “very loving father to his son” and that he didn’t know how to explain his father’s death to his son.
In addition to Mr. Flickinger, another WCK aid worker killed in the strike was identified as Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha, 25, a Palestinian. Damian Sobol, 35 years old, from Poland. and Lalzaumi “Zomi” Francome (43) from Australia.
Three members of WCK’s security team were also killed. James (Jim) Henderson, 33 years old. and James Kirby (47 years old, all British).
ABC News’ visual verification team analyzed ground landmarks and satellite imagery in Gaza and identified three WCK vehicles, including two armored vehicles, dispersed in various locations over an area of approximately 2.5 miles. can indicate that the vehicle has been attacked. At least he got three separate strikes.
The killing of the humanitarian worker sparked an international outcry. President Joe Biden said he was “outraged” by the attack, while Israeli authorities say it was a “grave mistake”.
During a Thursday phone call between Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden emphasized that strikes against humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable, according to a reading of the conversation released by the White House. did.
“Israel deeply regrets the tragic incident,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement on Tuesday, adding that the Israel Defense Forces would conduct a “prompt and transparent investigation” and publish the results.
WCK, a foreign aid group founded by chef José Andrés, called for an independent international investigation into the airstrike. The group described the incident as a “military attack involving multiple attacks” and claimed that its vehicles had been “targeted.”
WCK said in a statement on Thursday: “All three vehicles carry civilians and are marked as WCK vehicles, and their movements are in full compliance with Israeli authorities, who are responsible for their itinerary, route, “We recognized the humanitarian mission.”
A senior adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said claims that Israel’s attack was deliberate were “ridiculous.”
“The last thing in the world we want to do is endanger the lives of civilians,” adviser Ofir Falk told ABC News on Wednesday.
The WCK announced Thursday that it had asked Israel to preserve all materials that could be related to the attack, including documents and communications.
WCK has been operating in Gaza for several months and announced it has served more than 33 million meals since the start of the conflict. The group suspended its activities in the area after the attack. On Wednesday, it said it had not yet decided when it would resume operations in Gaza.
According to the March Integrated Food Security Tiering report, starvation is “imminent” in northern Gaza, with all Gaza residents facing high levels of food insecurity amid the ongoing Israeli-Hamas war. “I’m there.”
ABC News’ Kevin Shalvey contributed to this report.
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