World Central Kitchen, the organization founded by chef José Andrés that has provided food in areas facing humanitarian crisis all over the world, announced last night that seven members of its team had been killed in an IDF attack in Gaza. In a press release, WCK says its team was traveling in a de-conflicted zone in cars clearly marked with the organization’s logo, and that it had coordinated its movements with the IDF. Despite that, “the convoy was hit as it was leaving the Deir al-Balah warehouse, where the team had unloaded more than 100 tons of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza on the maritime route.”
“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,” said World Central Kitchen CEO Erin Gore. “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,”
Andrés also posted on X, formerly Twitter, about the attack. “I am heartbroken and grieving for their families and friends and our whole WCK family,” he writes. “The Israeli government needs to stop this indiscriminate killing. It needs to stop restricting humanitarian aid, stop killing civilians and aid workers, and stop using food as a weapon. No more innocent lives lost. Peace starts with our shared humanity. It needs to start now.”
In response to the attack, the Israeli military had said it would be conducting an investigation, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “It happens in war, we are fully examining this, we are in contact with the governments, and we will do everything so that this thing does not happen again.” As the New York Times writes, humanitarian organizations “have generally been critical of the Israeli military’s ability to transparently investigate itself, charging that probes are often long and rarely lead to indictments.” A video of the vehicle shows a large hole through the top of the car, clearly marked with the WCK logo.
WCK told Eater it has no further comment other than its posted statement, but the organization says it is pausing operations in the region until further notice. Recently, WCK became the first organization to successfully send aid to Gaza by ship. The Wall Street Journal writes that the organization had beat the U.S. military in building a pier to bring aid to Gaza. (The military plans for a pier were underway, despite the U.S. continuing to fund the bombing of Gaza.) “While the United Nations provides nearly 80 percent of humanitarian aid to the besieged enclave, World Central Kitchen accounts for more than half of non-U.N. deliveries” of food, the Wall Street Journal reports. World Central Kitchen recently posted that it had set up over 60 kitchens in Gaza.
That aid was crucial, after Congress voted in March to slash the budget for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), and as Palestinians face famine. In March, the UN said 70 percent of people in northern Gaza were experiencing catastrophic hunger, and that “famine is imminent.” AP reported that children have already been dying of hunger. Since October, Palestinian chefs in the U.S. have been organizing to support a ceasefire in Gaza.
Andrés has previously urged President Joe Biden to call for a ceasefire “The ‘better tomorrow’ you are talking about starts by demanding @netanyahu to stop killing children, targeting humanitarian volunteers and press!,” he posted in March. In a post on X from last night, WCK writes “This is a tragedy. Humanitarian aid workers and civilians should NEVER be a target. EVER.”
