World Central Kitchen foreign and Palestinian aid workers killed in alleged Israeli attack on Gaza

The charity World Central Kitchen said on Tuesday that an Israeli airstrike killed seven people working for a humanitarian aid organization in central Gaza, including a British national and several other foreign workers. It was announced that

The group was killed on Monday night on the Gaza Coast Road in Deir Bala, central Gaza, health officials and journalists at Al-Aqsa Hospital, where the bodies were taken, said. independent person. They sent a video showing the dismembered bodies of five people, some wearing protective suits emblazoned with the logo of World Central Kitchen, a charity founded by celebrity chef Jose Andrés. There were too.

The video also showed part of the deceased’s passport. Hospital officials said the foreign aid workers were from Britain, Australia and Poland, but World Central Kitchen said joint U.S. and Canadian nationals and a number of Palestinians were also killed.

WCK said the convoy was hit and that two of the cars hit were clearly marked as aid vehicles, despite the charity coordinating its operations with the Israeli military.

“This is not just an attack on WCK, but an attack on humanitarian organizations in the most dire situations where food is used as a weapon of war,” said Erin Gore, CEO of World Central Kitchen.

“This is unacceptable.”

The Gaza government press office identified one of the dead as a Palestinian driver.

Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade told Al Jazeera it was aware of the “tragic” incident but could not comment further due to “privacy obligations”.

independent person We contacted Israeli embassies in the UK, Australia and Poland.

A Palestinian aid worker from Delivera who knows the aid worker group said: independent person They were returning from coordinating the distribution of 400 tons of food aid that had arrived earlier in the day at WCK’s recently constructed pier via a new route from Cyprus. The aid worker asked not to be named for safety reasons.

WCK said independent person His death was a “tragedy.”

“We are heartbroken and saddened by their family, friends and our entire WCK family,” Andres said. I have written This is what X said in a statement on Monday. “These are people… angels… I served with them in Ukraine, Gaza, Turkey, Morocco, the Bahamas, Indonesia. They are not faceless… They are not nameless. The Israeli government We need 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. No more innocent lives will be lost. No. Peace begins with our shared humanity. We must start now.”

The Israeli military did not confirm or deny the reports of the airstrike, but said it had opened an investigation.

“Following today’s reports regarding World Central Kitchen personnel in Gaza, the IDF is conducting a thorough investigation at the highest level to understand the circumstances of this tragic incident,” the ministry said.

“IDF has undertaken extensive efforts to ensure the safe delivery of humanitarian supplies and is working closely with WCK in this critical effort to provide food and humanitarian supplies to the people of Gaza.”

A civilian in Deir al-Balah said: independent person There was a wave of airstrikes in the area on Monday night, hitting coastal roads and mosques, the main access points to northern Gaza.

This is not the first time Israel has been accused of bombing humanitarian aid convoys and distribution centers. The United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees said tank shells hit one of its aid convoys in February and a supply distribution center in March.

Last month, WCK facilitated a shipment carrying 200 tons of aid in a trial run. The Israeli military was involved in coordinating both deliveries.

The suspected attack came hours after Israeli forces concluded a devastating two-week assault on Gaza’s largest hospital, al-Shifa. The facility was charred and its contents destroyed, and the surrounding area was extensively destroyed.

Footage showed Shifa’s main buildings reduced to a charred mess, with bulldozers chewing up what appeared to be flattened bodies and body parts smashed to the ground. .

Israel claimed it launched the assault on Shifa because senior Hamas operatives had regrouped there and were planning an attack. After the troops withdrew, hundreds of Palestinians returned to search for lost loved ones or assess the damage, and Palestinian journalists reported people being killed by Israeli soldiers.

Among the dead were Ahmed Makhadoma, his mother, both doctors in Shifa, and his cousin, who volunteered at Shifa and other hospitals in the first months of the war before returning to Britain. Dr. Ghassan Abu Shitta, a Palestinian-British doctor who was involved in the campaign, said:

Nearly a week ago, the three of them were talking to their families on the phone as they were about to leave Shifa, but the phone suddenly went off, and their safety has not been known ever since. Abu Sitta, who has been in contact with his family, said relatives found his body with gunshot wounds about a block from the hospital on Monday.