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One of the destroyed World Central Kitchen cars

Photo: Mohammed Saber / EPA

The incident on Monday evening is far from being resolved - and now there are new allegations from the aid organization World Central Kitchen (WCK) against the Israeli armed forces. In an emotional video, the head of the NGO stated that the convoy of his employees had been deliberately attacked by the army.

Helpers from Australia, Poland and Great Britain, among others, died in the attack in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza. According to Andres, the Israeli army was in contact with his organization that day and was informed about the movements of the helpers. "It wasn't a situation in which you could say, 'Oops, we dropped the bomb in the wrong place,'" said the Spanish native.

Rather, the Israelis attacked the convoy "systematically" as it left a warehouse, "car by car." After the first shelling, the WCK people tried to escape into one of the other vehicles. Then these were also destroyed.

The New York Times interviewed weapons experts, according to whom the destruction of the vehicles indicates a targeted attack. It can therefore be assumed that a drone was fired at.

Andres continued: “That was a clearly marked humanitarian convoy. The cars had clear markings on the roof, a very colorful logo that we are very proud of." It was very clear "who we are and what we do."

Israel's army regretted the attack in a statement as a "serious mistake." Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu describes it as unintentional. The governments of the victims' countries of origin sometimes expressed angry reactions. The USA also called for an investigation; President Joe Biden wrote in a statement that he was "outraged and heartbroken."

Many aid groups are withdrawing employees

As a result of the attack, numerous aid groups have suspended their work in Gaza in order to avoid further endangering the safety of their staff. However, this step will further aggravate the already very poor supply situation in the war zone. Large parts of the civilian population are underserved, especially because Israel is blocking aid supplies from outside.

The WCK has previously delivered food and prepared meals for those in need. According to its own information, the organization has served more than 42 million meals in the Gaza Strip. On "Our more than 60 kitchens in the southern and central Gaza Strip cook hundreds of thousands of meals every day (...)," says WCK. These measures no longer take place after the attack.

The organization also sent a ship with relief supplies from Cyprus to the Gaza Strip in mid-March. The tug “Open Arms” set sail from the Cypriot port of Larnaka and was carrying a platform with around 200 tons of relief supplies. The mission was considered a pilot project to improve supplies for more than two million people in the Gaza Strip, who are currently lacking virtually everything because of the war.

jok/Reuters