Update: World Central Kitchen has confirmed seven of their workers were killed in an Israeli strike from above. The WCK has paused food distribution in Gaza. Israel received the coordinates from the aid workers on their scheduled locations. Whether this was a targeted assassination by Israel or not, deliberate starvation of Palestinians is inevitable now that zero aid is forthcoming. The logistics experienced international team has worked in Ukraine, Gaza, Haiti, Bahamas, Turkey, and Indonesia. Two additional aid worker deaths have now been added to the list of the dead: a Canadian and a US citizen with UK dual citizenship.
------------------------------------------------------------------------—
Palestinian news and Social Media report that an Israeli drone attack killed seven World Central Kitchen workers in a three-car convoy traveling from Deir al-Balah in Central Gaza to deliver food to starving people in the North. Four of the dead were foreign Nationals from Poland, Australia, the UK, and Ireland. One was Palestinian, likely a translator and driver for the group. A Canadian and one a US citizen with dual citizenship in the UK were killed, according to an updated news brief.
The organization is beloved worldwide, and its employees are saints.
According to social media, the five workers were distributing food from four vessels owned by a nonprofit group in Cyprus to Northern Gaza and returning to Central Gaza after delivery. Aid groups had recently constructed a jetty on a Gaza beach, where the food was transported from four barges, loaded into cars, and driven to World Central Kitchen sites in the Gaza Strip. There was a test run by WCK a couple of weeks ago with only one barge; this was the second delivery after the test run was successful.
March 30 (UPI) -- The World Central Kitchen loaded four vessels that have set sail from Cyprus with food intended to help feed civilians in Gaza.
"We are transporting shelf-stable and ready-to-eat items, like rice, pasta, flour, legumes, canned vegetables, and proteins," the WCK announced on Friday.
"Also being delivered is a special shipment of dates provided by the United Arab Emirates to provide a sense of comfort to Palestinians observing Ramadan during the darkest times imaginable," WCK officials said. "Dates are traditionally eaten to break the daily fast."
The food supplies are enough to provide more than a million meals for the starving population and adds to the more than 43 million meals already sent to Gaza by boat, plane, and truck.
This doesn’t look like a roadside attack, which some have claimed.
The bodies of the aid workers have been taken to a hospital in the southern city of Rafah on the Egyptian border, according to an Associated Press reporter at the hospital. The bodies of the foreign aid workers will reportedly be evacuated out of Gaza and the Palestinian driver’s body will be handed to his family in Rafah for burial.I could not locate an IDF statement on their website or Twitter, but this statement has been floated on Twitter as their statement.
“Following the reports regarding the World Central Kitchen personnel in Gaza today, the IDF is conducting a thorough review at the highest levels to understand the circumstances of this tragic incident.
ABC News confirms this IDF statement. H/T Clio2
"The IDF makes extensive efforts to enable the safe delivery of humanitarian aid, and has been working closely with WCK in their vital efforts to provide food and humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza,"
Videos showed the dead victims in a makeshift morgue. The bodies were mutilated after an apparent four strikes struck the convoy. The workers had protective gear on at the time of impact.
Message from WCK is below.
Warning: Video of the dead.
-
-
-
-
-