2024-04-02 17:31:00
World Central Kitchen (WCK), the Spanish-American NGO that was landing one million food rations in Gaza, aborted its operation in the Palestinian enclave. His three ships are returning to Cyprus, after seven of its aid workers were killed in an Israeli attack on their convoy on Monday. Three of them were British. The others had Australian, Polish, American and Palestinian nationality.
These aid workers were in a convoy near Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip. They had just deposited “100 tons of food aid” there, states the organization’s press release, when they were attacked by Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted and said that These are things that happen “in a war.”
“Unfortunately yesterday (Monday) there was a tragic incident, when our forces unintentionally attacked innocent people in the Gaza Strip. This happens in a war. We will check it until the end. “We are in contact with the governments and we will do everything possible to ensure that this does not happen again,” he said from the hospital where he underwent surgery on Sunday afternoon for a hernia.
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People gather around the bodies of World Central Kitchen aid workers at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip. The food aid organization said an Israeli strike killed seven of its workers in Gaza. He added that the dead were “from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, with dual citizenship of the United States, Canada and Palestine.”
Early on Tuesday, The Israeli army indicated that it would open “an investigation” to determine the circumstances of this attack. “We will open an investigation to further examine this serious incident. This will help us limit the risk of a similar event occurring again,” said Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, an army spokesman. He added that he had spoken with the founder of the NGO, the Spanish American, José Andrés.
The Israeli military says it is “reviewing the tragic incident at the highest level to understand the circumstances” and says it is “working closely with WCK” on its aid distribution.
“Israel must urgently explain how it happened”
“Three British aid workers were killed in the Israeli airstrike in Gaza,” charity World Central Kitchen (WCK) said.
In the British government the news fell like a bomb, when the kingdom is providing weapons to Israel.
“I spoke to Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz to underline that the deaths of World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza, including three British citizens, are completely unacceptable. “Israel must urgently explain how this happened and make important changes to ensure the safety of aid workers on the ground,” said Chancellor Lord David Cameron.
The United Kingdom demanded from the Israeli ambassador in London that Israel “establish an effective conflict resolution mechanism and urgently expand humanitarian access.”
The UK government has issued a statement after summon the Israeli ambassador. In it, Minister for Development and Africa, Andrew Mitchell, said: “Today I summoned the ambassador from the Israeli embassy in London to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. I set out the government’s unequivocal condemnation of the horrific murder of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers, including three British citizens. I requested a swift and transparent investigation, shared with the international community, and full accountability,” he continued.
“I reiterated the need for Israel to immediately and urgently establish an effective conflict resolution mechanism to expand humanitarian access. “We need to see an immediate humanitarian pause, to get the aid in and the hostages out, and then move towards a sustainable ceasefire,” the British Development Secretary said.
Citizens of Poland and Australia were also killed, as well as a dual citizen of the United States and Canada and a Palestinian, who was driving the car in which everyone was traveling.
The volunteers were employees of WCK, a non-governmental organization that provides food to displaced Palestinians.
British Prime Minister Rishi Syunak is ‘shocked’ by the deaths of aid workers
An armored and authorized convoy
Meanwhile, WCK Executive Director Erin Gore said the volunteer team was “traveling in a non-conflict area, in two armored vehicles with the WCK logo and one other vehicle,” when they were hit.
“Despite coordinating movements with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the convoy was hit as it left a depot in the city of Deir al Balah, central Gaza,” the charity said. He added that will immediately suspend its operations in the region.
“This is a tragedy. Aid workers and civilians should NEVER be targeted. EVER,” the charity said in a statement. “This is not just an attack against WCK. It is an attack against humanitarian organizations, which appear in the most horrific situations where food is used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable,” they maintained.
The IDF, which brings together the Israeli military, said they are carrying out a “thorough review at the highest level to understand the circumstances of this tragic incident.”
Israeli tanks on the border with the Gaza Strip, this Tuesday. Photo: AFPRear Admiral Daniel Hagari, Israel’s top military spokesman, said he had expressed “the deepest condolences of the Israel Defense Forces to the families and the entire World Central Kitchen family.”
He said the IDF will further examine the “serious incident” to “help us reduce the risk of such an event occurring again.”
Australia confirmed in the morning that one of its citizens, Lalzawmi Frankcom, 43, was one of the victims.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese praised the “extraordinarily valuable” work he was doing in Gaza helping with food distribution. He added that Australia would “seek accountability”. “It’s a tragedy that should never have happened,” he insisted.
A week before, the Australian, who everyone calls Zomi, was filmed in the Gaza Strip with the NGO’s cooks. “Here is the magnificent fragrant rice that will be served today in the kitchen of Deir al-Balah,” she says, smiling, in this video published on March 25.
One of the humanitarian organization’s vans attacked in the Gaza Strip. Photo: REUTERSThis was not the first field mission for Australian aid workers. According to the prime minister, she had already volunteered after the fires that devastated Australia between October 2019 and February 2020.
Lalzawmi Frankcom also appeared in a video published from the Bahamas, after Hurricane Dorian that hit the archipelago in 2019. In September 2023, the Australian also traveled to Morocco, after the devastating earthquake that hit the country. “We are going to go to these isolated villages as quickly as possible to serve residents fresh food and water,” she told US channel MSNBC.
Polish victim
The Polish Foreign Minister also confirmed in the morning that one of those killed was Polish. He offered his “condolences to the family of our brave volunteer and to all the civilian victims in Gaza.” According to Polish and Israeli media, it is Damian Rafal, 35 years old.
The mayor of the Polish town of Przemysl (southeast), Wojciech Bakun, where the Polish victim appears to come from, indicated on his official Facebook account: “Yesterday, during a rocket attack by Israeli forces against a humanitarian convoy delivering food “In the Gaza Strip, our colleague from Przemysl, a volunteer, member of the World Central Kitchen team, was killed.” “There are no words to describe what the people who knew this fantastic man feel now,” added Wojciech Bakun.
The Foreign Minister was more cautious about the identity of the victim. “The details of this person will only be given when his body is identified” by the Polish consul, he reported. The country’s authorities will open an investigation, demanding “urgent explanations” about the attack.
End of NGO operations in Gaza
WCK aid ships that arrived in Gaza on Monday They carried 400 tons of food and supplies (enough for 1 million meals), in a shipment funded by the United Arab Emirates and organized by WCK. But workers had only unloaded 100 tonnes, before the attack led the charity to order the ships to return to Cyprus.
Last month, another WCK ship delivered 200 tons of aid, in a pilot run by WCK volunteers and others in Gaza, who built a jetty from the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israeli bombings over the past five years. months. The Israeli army participated in the coordination of both deliveries.
Washington, Israel’s most important ally, has promoted the sea route as a new way to bring desperately needed aid to northern Gaza, which is largely cut off from the rest of the territory by Israeli forces.
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