The World Central Kitchen charity has confirmed its death of seven aid workers including a British man in an Israeli air strike in Gaza.
How 7 Charity Workers Met Their Death
The team had just helped deliver food and other supplies to the region when their vehicle was attacked in central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah on Monday. Their driver who is a Palestinian is one of the victims.
World Central Kitchen (WCK) said in a statement that seven aid workers from the UK, Australia, Poland, dual citizens of the US and Canada, and Palestine were killed while travelling in a deconflicted zone.
The workers had just crossed in from the north after helping deliver aid that had arrived hours earlier on a ship from Cyprus, sources have claimed.
Harrowing footage shared online appeared to show the bodies of the dead at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. Several of them wore protective gear with the charity’s logo.
The IDF said it has launched a probe into the incident at the ‘highest levels’ and reiterated that not only has been it ‘working closely’ with the charity, but also ‘makes extensive efforts to enable the safe delivery of humanitarian aid’.
The Death Sparks Reactions
IDF Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari later said in a statement that he had ‘expressed the deepest condolences of the Israel Defense Forces to the families and the entire World Central Kitchen family’.
The UK has reacted to the news as well since one if the deceased victims is a British, a spokesperson from Britain’s Foreign Office said: ‘We are aware of reports of the death of a British national in Gaza and are urgently seeking further information.’
WCK CEO Erin Gore as well breaks his silence this morning: ‘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.
‘I am heartbroken and appalled that we—World Central Kitchen and the world—lost beautiful lives today because of a targeted attack by the IDF.
‘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 forever be remembered and cherished.’
The Australian victim was named this morning as Lalzawmi ‘Zomi’ Frankcom, 44, from Melbourne.
Since the October start of the war, World Central Kitchen has been involved in relief efforts, including supplying meals to hunger-stricken Gaza.
