Seven World Central Kitchen workers were killed in the Gaza Strip when their convoy came under fire on Monday night, according to the aid organization and Gaza health officials.
The disaster relief organization, founded by Spanish chef Jose Andres, said the convoy was hit by an Israeli strike. In a statement after the attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to a “tragic case of our forces unintentionally hitting innocent people.” He said Israel was in contact with foreign governments about the episode.
Here’s what we know.
The convoy of three vehicles had just left a food warehouse.
World Central Kitchen staff members were leaving a warehouse in Deir al Balah, a city in the central Gaza Strip, when their convoy – two armored cars and a third vehicle – came under fire late Monday, the organization said in a statement.
The Israeli army had been informed of the aid workers’ movements, the charity said. Aid workers had just unloaded more than 100 tons of food brought to Gaza by sea at the warehouse, according to the group.
Videos and photos verified by The New York Times suggest the convoy was hit multiple times. The images show three damaged white vehicles, with the northernmost and southernmost vehicles nearly a mile and a half apart.
The World Central Kitchen logo could be seen on items inside the charred interior of the northernmost and southernmost cars. The car in the middle was left with a gaping hole in its roof, which was clearly visible with the group’s logo. All three vehicles, although far apart, were on or near the Al-Rashid beach road.
It remained unclear Tuesday morning what kind of munitions hit the cars and whether those explosives were launched from the ground, a warplane or a drone.
Six foreign citizens and one Palestinian were killed.
World Central Kitchen said one of the dead was a dual citizen of the United States and Canada, while the others were from Australia, Britain, Gaza and Poland. In a post listing the names and ages of the victims on the group’s website, its chief executive, Erin Gore, said: “We are devastated by our loss.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia identified one of the victims as Zomi Frankcom, an Australian citizen and senior manager at World Central Kitchen. “The tributes pouring in for Lalzawmi ‘Zomi’ Frankcom tell the story of a life dedicated to serving others, including fellow Australians during natural disasters,” said Penny Wong, the country’s foreign minister. social media.
Damian Sobol, an aid worker from the southeastern Polish town of Przemysl, was killed in the attack, according to the town’s mayor, Wojciech Bakun. “There are no words to describe what the people who knew this fantastic guy are feeling right now,” she said in a social media post.
David Cameron, the British Foreign Secretary, he said on social media that three of the aid workers killed were British citizens. The BBC reported their names: John Chapman, James Henderson and James Kirby. Local British media described Mr Chapman and Mr Henderson as former Royal Marines who later turned to volunteer work.
Jacob Flickinger, who also died in the attack, was a 33-year-old dual citizen of the United States and Canada, according to World Central Kitchen, and worked on the team’s relief team.
Palestinian medics recovered the bodies of the seven victims and took them to a hospital in Deir al-Balah, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. The foreigners’ bodies were to be flown from Gaza to Egypt, the group said.
Saif Abu Taha, a 25-year-old from Gaza who worked as a driver and translator for World Central Kitchen, also died in the attack. Mr Abu Taha was an enterprising young man who worked in his father’s business and spoke good English, his brother Shadi said.
Mr. Abu Taha and other World Central Kitchen workers were excited to have the opportunity to unload the desperately needed food aid. “They were so excited, like they were going to a wedding,” his brother said. That was the last time she saw him.
Mr Cameron said on social media that “it is important that aid workers are protected and able to carry out their work”. He called on Israel to “immediately investigate and provide a full, transparent explanation of what happened.”
At least 196 aid workers were killed in Gaza and the West Bank between October 2023 and the end of March, according to Jamie McGoldrick, a senior UN aid official. “This is not an isolated incident,” he said, adding later: “There is no safe place in Gaza.”
The prime minister appeared to take responsibility for the “unintentional” attack.
In a video statement on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to a “tragic case of our forces unintentionally harming innocent people in the Gaza Strip.” Mr. Netanyahu did not name World Central Kitchen in his remarks.
However, an Israeli official familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the strike was still under investigation, clarified that the prime minister was referring to the strike.
“It happens in war, we are looking into it fully, we are in contact with the governments and we will do everything to prevent this from happening again,” Mr Netanyahu said.
An Israeli military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an internal investigation, said the military had concluded it was responsible for the convoy strike. General Herzi Halevi, Israel’s army chief, is expected to review the findings of an initial investigation into the incident on Tuesday afternoon, the official said.
An Israeli military spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said the investigation had been referred to the Fact-Finding and Evaluation Mechanism, a military body tasked with investigating allegations and investigating the circumstances behind battlefield incidents. “We will open an investigation to further look into this serious incident,” he said. “This will help us reduce the risk of such an event happening again.”
The Israeli military said the mechanism was an “independent, professional and special body”. Human rights groups have generally criticized the Israeli military’s ability to investigate itself transparently, charging that investigations are often lengthy and rarely lead to charges.
The aid ship World Central Kitchen returns to Cyprus.
At the time of the strike, workers had unloaded 100 tons of aid from the Jennifer, a World Central Kitchen ship that had left the Cypriot port of Larnaca last weekend and arrived in Gaza on Monday. Another 240 tons were to be unloaded on Tuesday, according to Theodoros Gotsi, a spokesman for the Cypriot Foreign Ministry.
Mr Gotsis said Jennifer left Gaza to return to Larnaca on Tuesday. He added that several more tons of aid were waiting in warehouses in Larnaca, but it was unclear when or if a shipment would be made to deliver them.
Patrick Kingsley, Rawan Sheikh Ahmad, Gabby Sobelman, Matina Stevis-Grindnev, Lauren Leatherby, Nader Ibrahim and Kim Severson contributed to the reporting in this article.
