World Central Kitchen has suspended its humanitarian work in Gaza after an Israeli air strike on the organization’s vehicles killed three aid workers on Saturday.
Al Jazeera reports that the airstrike on the WCK-marked vehicle killed three aid workers and two others in Khan Younis, a city in the south of Gaza.
“We are heartbroken to share that a vehicle carrying World Central Kitchen colleagues was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza,” the organization shared in a statement. “World Central Kitchen is pausing operations in Gaza at this time. Our hearts are with our colleagues and their families in this unimaginable moment.”
The Israeli military claimed that one member of the WCK convoy killed on Saturday had participated in the October 7 attacks on Israel.
“Earlier today, the IDF struck a vehicle with a terrorist, Hazmi Kadih, who took part in invading Kibbutz Nir Oz during the October 7 massacre. Kadih was monitored by IDF intelligence for a while and was struck following credible information regarding his real-time location,” the Israel Defense Forces shared in an English-language post to X.
World Central Kitchen pushed back on that idea in their statement.
“World Central Kitchen had no knowledge that any individual in the vehicle had alleged ties to the October 7th Hamas attack,” they shared.
The strike comes just months after an April bombing killed seven WCK aid workers delivering food to Palestinians. The route had been cleared by the Israeli military in advance. However, Israeli drones targeted the group’s convoy and struck it with three missiles. The attack was condemned by the international community, including US President Joe Biden and chef and WCK founder José Andrés.
“These are people…angels…I served alongside in Ukraine, Gaza, Turkey, Morocco, Bahamas, Indonesia. They are not faceless…they are not nameless.” Andres said at the time. “The Israeli government needs to stop this indiscriminate killing.”
Israel dismissed two officers over that incident.