José Andrés Condemns Israel For Killing Aid Workers: ‘Stop Using Food As A Weapon’

[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnLOADINGERROR LOADINGJosé Andrés, the renowned chef who founded World Central Kitchen, condemned Israeli officials after troops killed seven of his charity’s workers who were delivering food and supplies to starving Palestinians in Gaza ― leading the aid group to pause its desperately needed work in the region.On Monday evening, Andrés confirmed that WCK lost “several of our sisters and brothers” in the Israeli attack hours earlier. The workers were traveling in a convoy of three cars ― two of which were armored vehicles branded with the charity’s logo on their roofs so Israeli forces would know not to attack them. WCK also said the convoy was driving in a so-called deconflicted zone, and that it had been coordinating movements with the Israeli military.Advertisement

Despite those safety measures, Israeli troops bombed the convoy as it was leaving the Deir al-Balah warehouse, where WCK workers had just delivered more than 100 tons of humanitarian food aid that arrived in Gaza via sea route. According to some reports and geolocation of the area, Israel launched three strikes on the cars in succession.“I am heartbroken and grieving for their families and friends and our whole WCK family,” Andrés wrote of the victims on X, formerly Twitter. “These are people…angels…I served alongside in Ukraine, Gaza, Turkey, Morocco, Bahamas, Indonesia. They are not faceless…they are not nameless.”Palestinians stand next to a vehicle in Gaza’s Deir al-Balah on April 2, where employees from the World Central Kitchen were killed in an Israeli airstrike.Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesGraphic footage at the Al-Aqsa Hospital showed the bodies of the workers, many of whom were wearing protective gear displaying the WCK logo. The victims are from Britain, Poland, Australia, the United States, Canada and Gaza ― a list that includes some of Israel’s closest allies on the world stage. So far, the workers who have been identified include Poland’s Damian Soból, Australia’s Zomi Frankcom and Gaza’s Saif Abu-Taha. The U.K. has not yet released the identities of its three workers. The identity of one worker with dual U.S. and Canadian citizenship has also not been made public.Advertisement

“The love they had for feeding people, the determination they embodied to show that humanity rises above all, and the impact they made in countless lives will be forever remembered and cherished,” WCK CEO Erin Gore said in a statement.World Central Kitchen, which operates in several countries in need of food assistance due to war and natural disasters, announced on Tuesday that it is immediately pausing aid operations in Gaza and will be “making decisions about the future of our work soon.”The charity has delivered about 150,000 meals a day in Gaza by collaborating with Anera, a U.S.-based aid group that has operated in the Palestinian territories for decades. Anera also made the decision to suspend operations until the safety and security of aid workers can be guaranteed. The United Arab Emirates, which is the main funder of WCK’s aid route, also said it would pause its its involvement i …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]