at this point israel is no better than the terrorists that attacked them 6
months ago
World Central Kitchen founder José Andrés says Israel targeted staff in
Gaza 'car by car'
2 hours ago
World Central Kitchen (WCK) founder José Andrés has accused Israeli
forces in Gaza of targeting his aid workers "systematically, car by car".
Monday's strike which killed seven members of his staff was not a
mistake, he said, repeating that Israeli forces had been told of their
movements.
WCK workers from Australia, Canada, Poland, the UK and the US were
killed as well as their Palestinian colleague.
Israel says the strike was a "grave mistake" and has apologised.
It has also promised an independent investigation.
According to the charity, the aid convoy was hit while leaving the Deir al-
Balah warehouse, "where the team had unloaded more than 100 tonnes of
humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza on the maritime route".
The convoy was made up of three vehicles, including two that were
armoured, which clearly displayed the charity's logo. All three were hit
during the strike.
Speaking to Reuters news agency on Wednesday, the Spanish-American
celebrity chef said this was not a "bad luck situation where, 'oops,' we
dropped the bomb in the wrong place".
In a separate interview with Israel's Channel 12 news, Mr Andrés said "it
was really a direct attack on clearly marked vehicles whose movements
were known by everybody at the IDF [Israel Defense Forces]".
The bodies of six of the dead WCK workers have since been taken from
Gaza into Egypt to be repatriated.
Their Palestinian colleague was buried in his hometown in Rafah, southern
Gaza, on Tuesday.
Humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip is in doubt after WCK - a key provider
of aid to the territory - suspended operations.
The UN announced it was pausing movements at night for at least 48
hours to evaluate the security situation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described the strike as
unintentional.
"It happens in war, we check it to the end, we are in contact with the
governments, and we will do everything so that this thing does not happen
again," Mr Netanyahu said on Tuesday.
IDF Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi called the incident a "grave
mistake" and said "it shouldn't have happened," blaming the strike on
misidentification.
US President Joe Biden has condemned the strike, accusing Israel of not
doing enough to protect aid workers.
"The United States has repeatedly urged Israel to deconflict their military
operations against Hamas with humanitarian operations, in order to avoid
civilian casualties," Mr Biden said.
Three of the killed aid workers were British nationals. A Polish national, an
Australian, a Palestinian and a dual US-Canadian citizen were also killed.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke to Mr Netanyahu on Tuesday. On the
call, he described the situation in Gaza as "increasingly intolerable" and
"demanded a thorough and transparent independent investigation" into
the killing of the aid workers.
Mr Sunak added that Israel needed to end restrictions on humanitarian aid
and protect civilians, according to a Downing Street statement.
In other reaction:
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he had "expressed
Australia's anger and concern" in a long phone call with Mr Netanyahu,
and that he expected a "full and proper explanation for how this has
occurred"
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said he had demanded an
independent investigation from Israel Katz, his Israeli counterpart
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said "full accountability" was
needed, adding that it was "absolutely unacceptable for aid workers to be
killed" by the IDF
Four days ago, WCK said that it had distributed 42 million meals in the
Gaza Strip - dispatching more than 1,700 food trucks and also sending
close to 435,000 meals by sea.
According to Cogat, the Israeli defence ministry body in charge of civilian
policy in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, WCK is responsible for 60%
of the non-governmental aid getting into the territory.
A second charity, the American Near East Refugee Aid (Anera), which was
working closely with WCK, told the BBC it was also freezing its operations
in Gaza.
More than 196 aid workers have been killed in Gaza since October,
according to the US-funded Aid Worker Security Database, which records
major incidents of violence against aid personnel. Not all have been killed
in the line of duty.
Much of the Gaza Strip has been devastated during the Israeli military
operations that began after Hamas gunmen attacked southern Israel on 7
October, killing about 1,200 people and seizing 253 hostages.
About 130 of the hostages remain in captivity, at least 34 of whom are
presumed dead.
More than 32,916 people have been killed in Gaza since then, the Hamas-
run health ministry says.
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This will bite the IDF and Israel as it should.
The vehicles were marked.
IDF had been alerted, not just one, several, of WCK
movements.
Food should never be a weapon.
You can blame Hamas for a lot of things, militarizing a
hospital, hiding behind starving children, but this?
Israel owns it all.
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