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World Central Kitchen (WCK), a non-profit organization that provides food aid and disaster assistance in devastated communities, confirmed and mourned the death of seven members of its team in an attack by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in Gaza.
Through a statement, the NGO reported that the WCK team was traveling in a deconflict area in two armored vehicles with the WCK logo and a soft-skinned vehicle.
However, he said, despite having coordinated its movements with the IDF, the convoy was hit as it left the Deir al-Balah warehouse, where the team had unloaded more than 100 tons of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza via the sea route. .
“This is not just an attack against the WCK, it is an attack against humanitarian organizations that appear in the most dire of situations, where food is used as a weapon of war. This is inexcusable,” said World Central Kitchen CEO Erin Gore.
The seven murdered are from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, a dual US-Canadian citizen, and Palestine.
“I am heartbroken and horrified that we – the World Central Kitchen and the world – have lost beautiful lives today due to a targeted attack by the IDF. “The love they had for feeding people, the determination they embodied to demonstrate that humanity rises above all, and the impact they made on countless lives will be remembered and cherished forever,” said Erin Gore.
Given what happened, World Central Kitchen also reported that it is immediately pausing its operations in the region, and that it will soon make decisions about the future of its work.
Following what happened, IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari noted in a video that "as a professional military committed to international law, we are committed to examining our operations comprehensively and transparently."
He said that he has already contacted the founder of WCK, chef José Andrés, to whom he expressed his deepest condolences from the Israel Defense Forces to the families and the entire World Central Kitchen family, as well as to nations. allies who have been doing and continue to do everything to help those in need.
?We have been reviewing the incident at the highest level to understand the circumstances of what happened and how it happened. We will open an investigation to further examine this serious incident. This will help us reduce the risk of such an event occurring again. The incident will be investigated in the Fact Investigation and Evaluation Mechanism: an independent, professional and expert body,” he said.
"We will get to the bottom of this and share our findings transparently," he stressed.
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