An Israeli air raid has killed six international aid workers and a Palestinian driver.
The United States-based aid group, World Central Kitchen (WCK), confirmed on Tuesday that its staff members were killed in a “targeted attack” by the Israeli military. The dead were from Palestine, Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, as well as a US-Canada citizen.
WCK said the attack came as its staff were delivering food from its latest shipment to Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been pushed to the brink of famine by Israel’s offensive action.
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According to a statement by the charity organization “The WCK team was traveling in a deconflicted zone in two armored cars branded with the WCK logo and a soft skin vehicle.
“Despite coordinating movements with the [Israeli army], the convoy was hit as it was leaving the Deir al-Balah warehouse, where the team had unloaded more than 100 tons of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza on the maritime route.”
Erin Gore, the CEO of the charity, lamented thus, “This is not only an attack against WCK, this is an attack on humanitarian organisations showing up in the most dire of situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable.”
WCK said it was immediately suspending operations in the region. The strike marked a big setback to efforts to deliver aid by sea, a route that has been developed due to Israeli restrictions on access to Gaza, where experts say famine is imminent.
