WCK Chief Puts Israel on Blast: Convoy 'Systematically' Targeted

UPDATE Apr 4, 2024 5:03 AM CDT

Celebrity chef Jose Andres, founder of the World Central Kitchen humanitarian aid nonprofit, says the seven WCK aid workers who were killed in Gaza Monday night were targeted "systematically, car by car." In what Reuters describes as an emotional interview, Andres claimed that the Israeli military knew about the movement of WCK aid workers thanks to very clear communication between the group and the military, and also that it should have been obvious the military was targeting an aid convoy. "This was not just a bad luck situation where 'oops' we dropped the bomb in the wrong place," he said, adding that he does not accept Israel's claim that the strike was unintentional. "This was over a 1.5, 1.8 kilometers, with a very defined humanitarian convoy that had signs in the top, in the roof, a very colorful logo," he said, adding that aid workers also tried to communicate who they were as the cars were attacked one by one.

Apr 3, 2024 11:30 AM CDT

Israel has provided an initial explanation for why it killed seven aid workers with World Central Kitchen in Gaza in a Monday night strike: misidentification. The Israeli military says its first look into the deaths indicated the aid workers' three vehicles were mistakenly identified as hostile targets. The Wall Street Journal has this quote from Israeli military chief of staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi: "I want to be very clear—the strike was not carried out with the intention of harming WCK aid workers. It was a mistake that followed a misidentification—at night during a war in very complex conditions. It shouldn't have happened." More:

• The Journal points out those seven deaths add to the tally of humanitarian workers that have been killed in the Palestinian territories since Oct. 7: 196. This despite the fact that humanitarian groups share details of their location and movements with both Israel and Hamas as a means of safeguarding themselves.
• Indeed, the Washington Post reports WCK says it had alerted Israeli military officials of its plans and had clearance to drive along the Al-Rashid coastal road, which has functioned as a humanitarian corridor but is still designated a "high-risk zone" by the UN. The team was outfitted in bulletproof vests, and two of the three vehicles were armored.
• The Post reports that imagery and corresponding geolocation data "shows that all of the vehicles were destroyed within a mile and a half of each other, suggesting that some had a chance to keep driving after the attack began."
• The New York Times also reviewed photos and videos from the scene and notes the "World Central Kitchen logo could be seen on items inside the charred interiors of the northernmost and southernmost cars. The car in the middle was left with a gaping hole in its roof, which was clearly marked with the group's logo."
• World Central Kitchen stopped providing meals following the strike out of concern for the safety of its staff, meaning some 300,000 fewer meals are currently available each day. (WCK founder Jose Andres has called it "a direct attack on clearly marked vehicles.")