Group Of Foreign Aid Workers Killed By Israeli Strike On Convoy, Netanyahu Expresses Regret

A Monday an Israeli airstrike on the central Gaza town of of Deir al-Balah killed seven international aid workers with World Central Kitchen, resulting in the well-known charity announcing Tuesday that it must suspend operations to deliver food aid to Gaza.

Footage confirming their deaths is driving international outrage and again ramping up the pressure on Israel. The Associated Press writes Tuesday, “Footage showed the bodies, several wearing protective gear with the charity’s logo, at a hospital in the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah.” The report details, “Those killed include three British nationals, an Australian, a Polish national, an American-Canadian dual citizen and a Palestinian, according to hospital records.”

Australian national Lalzawmi “Zomi” Frankcom (left) was among those confirmed killed – World Central Kitchen/X

The well-known charity was founded founded in 2010 by Spanish American chef and restaurateur José Andrés, and has been among many world charities and NGOs embedded in Gaza amid the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe.

World Central Kitchen CEO Erin Gore has said in a fresh statement: “This is not only an attack against WCK, this is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the most dire of situations where food is being used as a weapon of war.”

“This is unforgivable,” Gore added. The statement underscored that the team “was traveling in a deconflicted zone in two armored cars branded with the WCK logo and a soft skin vehicle.” 

What makes this tragedy look even worse for Israel is that it was a targeted drone strike on a convoy operated by the international charity. Israel’s Haaretz reports that the attack was ostensibly targeting a Hamas member who wasn’t there. It was “launched because of suspicion that a terrorist was travelling with the convoy.” What’s more is that the report indicates the convoy was bombed three times.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed regret in a Tuesday statement, and amid growing pressure from the press and Western governments, acknowledging his military had conducted the “unintended strike” on “innocent people in the Gaza Strip.”

“Unfortunately, in the past day, there was a tragic incident of an unintentional hit by our forces on innocent people in the Gaza Strip. It happens during war. We are in touch with governments, and we’ll do everything so this doesn’t happen again,” his full statement said, though without mentioning World Central Kitchen by name.

World Central Kitchen vehicle that was hit in an Israeli strike on Monday in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza. EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Cyprus has said that as a result of the incident and the charity’s forced shuttering of operations, recently arrived ships have turned back while loaded with some 240 tons of undelivered aid.

Meanwhile, the US State Department has said that famine is likely already present in parts of Gaza. A State Dept. official told Reuters. “While we can say with confidence that famine is a significant risk in the south and center but not present, in the north, it is both a risk and quite possibly is present in at least some areas.”

I find it interesting that Israel can conduct precision HVT strikes on targets in Syria, but in Gaza they will just drop on anything with a pulse with apparently no targeting criteria. https://t.co/i1De3CTANl

— Jack Murphy (@JackMurphyRGR) April 2, 2024

The US Army’s project to build a large pier off Gaza’s coast to facilitate maritime aid deliveries is still likely at least two months out as US Navy ships carrying the building equipment and engineering personnel are still traversing the Atlantic while en route to the eastern Mediterranean.