World Central Kitchen will resume operations in Gaza four weeks after seven aid workers were killed by Israeli airstrikes, the organization announced on Sunday.
The non-profit organization, founded by celebrity chef José Andrés, suspended operations providing vital food aid to Gaza following the killings. Before the April 1 strike, which killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers, the organization had sent about two tons of food to Gaza. The organization has 276 trucks, filled with the equivalent of nearly 8 million meals, ready to enter through the Rafah crossing in southern Gaza.
“The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains dire,” World Central Kitchen said in a statement. “We are resuming operations with the same energy, the same dignity and a focus on feeding as many people as possible.”
World Central Kitchen said the food would be sent by any means possible, including land, air and sea. The organization has dozens of community kitchens as well as high-production kitchens in the Gazan cities of Rafah and Deir al Balah. Construction of a third high-production kitchen in Mawasi is underway.
“WCK has assembled a strong team of Palestinians to carry the torch,” the organization said. “Our model has always been to work hand in hand with the community: Puerto Ricans feed Puerto Ricans; Moroccans feed Moroccans; Ukrainians feed Ukrainians; and now, Palestinians feed Palestinians.”
Jacob Flickinger, 33, a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen, was among those killed in the April 1 incident. The other WCK personnel killed in the attack, which the Israeli military called a “serious mistake,” were identified as Palestinian, British, Polish and Australian nationals.
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The Israeli army announced on April 5 that it dismissed two officers and reprimanded three others for their roles in the deadly drone strikes, saying they mishandled critical information and violated the military’s rules of engagement.
“The incident should not have happened,” the Israeli military said in a statement summarizing retired Gen. Yoav Har-Even’s seven-page findings. “Those who approved the strike were convinced that they were targeting armed Hamas members and not WCK employees. The strike on humanitarian vehicles is a serious error resulting from a serious failure due to misidentification, of decision-making and attack errors contrary to standard operating procedures.
WCK noted that the IDF apologized and said it had changed its operating rules.
“Even though we have no concrete assurances, we continue to seek answers and advocate for change with the goal of better protecting WCK and all NGO workers who selflessly serve in the worst humanitarian conditions,” he said. declared World Central Kitchen on Sunday. “Our demand for an impartial and international investigation remains.”
People in war-torn Gaza are starving. A third of children under the age of two in Gaza are currently suffering from acute malnutrition, according to UNICEF, a United Nations children’s charity. International aid agencies say more than a million people – half of Gaza’s population – are now facing famine. World Central Kitchen noted that it was forced to choose between stopping aid during a hunger crisis or resuming aid, knowing that aid workers would be in danger.
“These are the most difficult conversations and we considered all perspectives during deliberations,” WCK said. “Ultimately, we decided we needed to keep feeding ourselves, continuing our mission of being there to provide food to people in the most difficult of times.”
Israel has accused Hamas of preventing at least some of the aid entering Gaza from reaching people who need it.
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