According to Nagtzaam, the situation in Gaza will become even more dire now that WCK is no longer providing assistance.
“It is a new blow to the food supply, and the situation was already dramatic. The fact that WCK is hesitant to continue will also have an impact on other aid organizations. And the need is enormous,” he says.
Catastrophic scale
“Two million people are hungry on a catastrophic scale. There is far too little food, and if there is any, it is stored at the border or in Cyprus. Border controls by the Israeli army are extremely strict, as they are thoroughly investigated whether There are no items for Hamas among the loads. And even if food trucks come through, there are still many checkpoints within Gaza. Moreover, there is also looting of the convoys, so the food often does not end up in the right places.”
The killed aid workers came from a WCK warehouse that stores food brought from Cyprus to Gaza, Nagtzaam said.
WCK characters
“Three cars were attacked as they drove south in a convoy along the coastal road. Two of the three vehicles were clearly marked with WCK signs, the other car was not. It involved passenger transport, no food was being transported, the WCK killed employees were part of a volunteer team with coordinating tasks.”
Nagtzaam says he is very impressed by WCK’s work in Gaza. “It is an aid organization founded by the Spanish-American chef José Andrés and that does things slightly differently than others. I have also seen them working in Ukraine, and after the terrible earthquake in Turkey. In the hardest hit places They do what they do best: cooking meals, and that is what people in disaster or war areas often need most.”
Standard response
The Israeli army has expressed its ‘sincere condolences’ over the deaths of the seven aid workers. Daniel Hagari, Israel’s top military spokesman, said the incident was “being assessed at the highest level.” An independent investigation will be launched, he said, which will “help us reduce the risk of such an event happening again.”
A standard response, according to Nagtzaam. “In these types of incidents, the Israeli army always says that an investigation will be conducted. But no responsibility is taken.”
Later in the day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the Israeli army had “unintentionally hit innocent people in Gaza.”
The aid workers came from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom and the Palestinian territories. One of the victims had dual American and Canadian nationality.
Worldwide criticism
The attack has been criticized worldwide. For example, British Foreign Secretary Cameron calls the news that the aid workers have been killed ‘terrible’: “It appears that British people have been killed, we are doing everything we can to verify this information.” Cameron calls it essential that aid workers are protected: “We have called on Israel to immediately investigate the incident.”
Poland and Spain have also asked Israel to clarify what exactly happened. The US also reacted with shock and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has called for an investigation.
Tags: World Central Kitchen suspends cooking death employees Gaza Disastrous
