Four foreign aid workers from the American non-governmental organization (NGO) World Central Kitchen (WCK) and their Palestinian driver were killed on Monday April 1 by an Israeli strike on their vehicle in the central Gaza Strip.
“Today, World Central Kitchen lost several of its sisters and brothers in a strike by the Israeli army in Gaza,” declared on the social network , confirming an announcement made earlier by the Hamas health ministry. The latter first reported five “martyrs” arriving in a hospital in Deir Al-Balah, after “an Israeli airstrike targeting a vehicle of the American organization World Central Kitchen”.
“This is a true tragedy,” the American NGO posted on X. “Aid workers and civilians should NEVER be a target. NEVER. »
Humanitarians had just delivered food that had arrived by boat a few hours earlier to the north of the Palestinian enclave, while the territory is threatened with famine, according to the United Nations.
The humanitarians killed in the strike “possess British, Australian and Polish nationality and the fourth nationality is not known,” the Hamas health ministry in power in Gaza reported in a statement, specifying that the fifth person was a Palestinian driver and translator.
The Australian Prime Minister confirmed on Tuesday morning that one of his compatriots, Zomi Frankcom, was among the victims. Anthony Albanese praised the “extraordinarily valuable” work that Ms. Frankcom was carrying out in the Gaza Strip and assured that his country “would seek to establish responsibilities”.
The Israeli army had announced earlier that it was “reviewing the tragic incident at the highest level to understand the circumstances” and assured that it had “worked closely with WCK” for its distribution of aid to the population of Gaza.
An NGO involved in the distribution of food aid in Gaza
The White House said it was “heartbroken.” “We are deeply troubled by the strike,” National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson told X. “Aid workers must be protected as they provide desperately needed aid, and we urge Israel to promptly investigate what happened,” she added.
“The Israeli government must put an end to this way of killing indiscriminately,” urged WCK boss José Andrès. Israel, he continued, “must end the restriction on food aid, end the killing of civilians and aid workers, and stop using food as a weapon.”
The American NGO WCK is notably involved in sending aid by boat from Cyprus to the Gaza Strip and in the construction of a temporary pier in Gaza. A first boat unloaded its cargo there in mid-March under the supervision of the Israeli army.
