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Passports of employees working for the US-based international volunteer aid organization World Central Kitchen (WCK), identified after Israel’s attack on Gaza.
CNN
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At least five aid workers delivering food to starving civilians in the Gaza Strip have been killed in an Israeli military attack, according to the nonprofit organization World Central Kitchen.
Footage obtained by CNN shows bodies of people apparently wearing World Central Kitchen vests after an airstrike in the central city of Deir al-Balah. The footage shows British, Polish and Australian passports.
In a statement Monday, World Central Kitchen said: “A World Central Kitchen team member was killed in an IDF (Israel Defense Forces) attack while supporting humanitarian food delivery operations in Gaza. I am aware of the reports.”
“This is a tragedy. Humanitarian aid workers and civilians should never be targeted. Ever. We will share further information once all the facts are gathered,” it said in a statement.
Jose Andres, founder of World Central Kitchen, confirmed to CNN that five people had died, but did not provide specific details.
The IDF said it was “conducting a thorough investigation at the highest level to understand the circumstances of this tragic incident.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said in a statement to CNN on Tuesday that the Australian government is “urgently confirming reports” that an Australian aid worker has been killed in Gaza.
“These reports are deeply worrying. We have clearly recognized the need to protect civilian lives in this conflict. “We have made it very clear that we expect safe and unimpeded access to our customers,” it said in a statement.
World Central Kitchen provides meals to areas and communities affected by disasters, including feeding Haiti after the earthquake and Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria.
It also provides food aid to areas affected by war, such as Ukraine after the Russian invasion.
In March, the nonprofit led an effort to transport 200 tons of food aid to Gaza, which it said was the first sea shipment of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian enclave.
The shipment contained food for 500,000 meals that World Central Kitchen plans to distribute to the Strip, where hundreds of thousands of people are at risk of starvation.
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