World Central Kitchen Pauses Operation In Gaza After The Killing Of Team Members (image@Charles_Lister)
The World Central Kitchen (WCK) said it is “immediately” pausing operations in Palestine’s Gaza. The decision was made after the organisation’s workers were killed by Israeli airstrike in the besieged Strip. WCK confirmed that seven of its members were killed in Israeli air strike in Gaza. The aid workers were travelling “in a deconflicted zone in two armoured cars branded with the WCK logo and a soft skin vehicle”, said the statement released by the organisation.
World Central Kitchen is devastated to confirm seven members of our team have been killed in an IDF strike in Gaza. Read our full statement on the loss of our team members here: https://t.co/gsijamzfMU pic.twitter.com/PtQCxX5XrW
— World Central Kitchen (@WCKitchen) April 2, 2024
The WCK CEO Erin Gore said the attack is “unforgivable”. Gore said, the attack was not only against WCK but to “humanitarian organisations showing up in the most dire situation where food is being used as a weapon of war”. As per the post shared by the organisation on its social media handle, it was operating more than 60 kitchens in central and southern Gaza, cooking meals for hundreds and thousands of starving Gazans.
The seven killed workers were from Australia, Palestine, Poland, United Kingdom, and one with dual citizenship of the Canada and US. WCK said that the convoy were hit despite moving in coordination with the Israeli occupation army. It was hit as it was leaving Deir al-Balah warehouse, where the team members have unloaded more than 100 tons of humanitarian food aid brought to the besieged enclave through maritime route.
Before being killed, one of the aid workers, Australian citizen Zomi Frankcom shared a video showing the WCK chefs preparing vegetable and beef stew in Dei al Balah.
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Talking to Al Jazeera, Ben Saul, UN Special Rapporteur on protecting human rights while countering terrorism said the attack could comprise to the violation of international humanitarian law and a war crime. Saul said, “it could well be a violation of international humanitarian law, under which Israel has a duty not to deliberately target humanitarian relief workers or their convoys or their relief consignments”.
US National Security Council (NSC) called to “swiftly investigate what happened”. The NSC spokesperson, Adrian Watson said that humanitarian aid workers must be protected as they deliver the desperately needed aids.
It is to note that, US, the strongest ally of Israel has sent $2.5 billion in weapons to Israel which include fighter jets and 900kg (2,000 pounds) bombs, despite the global condemnation against Israel for its genocidal war on Gaza.
Over 33,000 Palestinians were killed by Israeli occupation force and more than 75,000 were wounded, since the October 7th. As per UN food security assessment, over 1.1 million people, that is half of Gaza’s population is facing “catastrophic” hunger forced upon them by the Israel.
