Gaza Strip: American NGO workers killed by Israeli strike
Collaborators of an American non-governmental organization which delivers food to the Gaza Strip threatened by famine were killed in an Israeli strike on Monday April 1, its founder announced, with Hamas reporting five victims. including four foreigners.
Palestinians carry the body of a person following an Israeli airstrike at Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Monday, April 1, 2024. Gaza medical authorities say a Israeli airstrike killed four international aid workers from the charity World Central Kitchen and their Palestinian driver after they helped deliver food and other supplies to northern Gaza, which had arrived by boat hours earlier early. AP - Abdel Kareem Hana
By: RFI with AFP
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“
Today, World Central Kitchen lost several of its sisters and brothers in a strike by the Israeli army in
Gaza
,” declared on X (ex-Twitter) the boss and founder of this NGO based in the United States, the Spanish-American chef José Andrés. They were killed “
while working to support our humanitarian work of delivering food to Gaza
,” according to a separate statement from the organization, denouncing it a “
tragedy
.”
The United States, which is increasingly distancing itself from its Israeli ally after almost six months of war in the Gaza Strip, declared itself “
deeply troubled
” by this event. “
We are heartbroken and deeply troubled by the strike
,” National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said on the social network X. “
Aid workers must be protected as they provide desperately needed aid, and we urge
Israel
to promptly investigate what happened
,” she added.
Today @WCKitchen lost several of our sisters and brothers in an IDF air strike in Gaza. I am heartbroken and grieving for their families and friends and our whole WCK family. These are people…angels…I served alongside in Ukraine, Gaza, Turkey, Morocco, Bahamas, Indonesia. They… https://t.co/rM3xbsiQ1Q
— Chef José Andrés 🕊️🥘🍳 (@chefjoseandres) April 1, 2024
Also read: A deadly new food distribution in Gaza City
Five bodies and three foreign passports near the remains
The Hamas Ministry of Health reported five victims arriving at a hospital in Deir el-Balah, after “
an Israeli airstrike targeting a vehicle of the American organization World Central Kitchen
” in the center of the Gaza Strip. . “
They have British, Australian and Polish nationality and the fourth nationality is not known
,” this Hamas source reported in another statement, specifying that the fifth person was a Palestinian driver and translator.
An AFP correspondent saw five bodies and three foreign passports near the remains at the Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah. Images of these bodies and passports are also circulating on social networks.
The Israeli army said it was “
reviewing the tragic incident at the highest level to understand the circumstances
” and assured that it had “
worked closely with WCK
” for its aid distribution. World Central Kitchen is involved in sending aid by boat from Cyprus to Gaza and building a temporary pier in the besieged Palestinian territory. A first boat unloaded its cargo there in mid-March under the supervision of the Israeli army.
Nearly six months after the start of the conflict, the Hamas Ministry of Health announced Monday the deaths of at least 70 people in the last 24 hours, in “
dozens
” of Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip.
Read alsoThe Israeli army left the al-Chifa hospital in Gaza
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