Israel Acknowledges World Central Kitchen Employees ‘Unintentionally’ Killed in Airstrike

Israel acknowledged Tuesday that several employees of the World Central Kitchen (WCK), founded by celebrity chef José Andrés, were killed overnight “unintentionally” in an airstrike on their convoy in the northern Gaza Strip.

The airstrike killed seven WCK employees, who came from at least four countries — Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, and the United States — in what appeared to be two vehicles that were hit from above, likely by drones.

Ironically, the incident took place just after a glowing Wall Street Journal profile of WCK’s role in the conflict. The group has provided food to Israelis displaced by the October 7 attack, as well as by Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

Andrés has generally avoided politics, though he had earlier stirred controversy by suggesting that Israel deliberately kills civilians in Gaza– a claim he reiterated Tuesday in reacting angrily to the attack, though without evidence.

Israeli spokesman David Mencer called the aid workers “unsung heroes” who carry out a “vital mission” in providing aid in war, adding that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is a “professional military that abides by international law.”

At first, the IDF had said that it would investigate the incident, without saying that its forces had been responsible. Later, IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari called Andrés to express Israel’s condolences for the attack.

IDF spokesperson, RAdm. Daniel Hagari, spoke with @WCKitchen founder, @chefjoseandres, and expressed the IDF’s deepest condolences to the entire World Central Kitchen family.

The work of WCK is critical. pic.twitter.com/nRUYZVxif3

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) April 2, 2024

Hagari also said that the IDF would conduct an independent probe of the incident — a promise on which the IDF has delivered in the past, offering swift, credible assessments of incidents of friendly fire and claims of civilian casualties.

The Jerusalem Post reported Tuesday that the IDF and COGAT, the Israeli agency responsible for humanitarian aid in Gaza and the West Bank, were establishing a joint command center for the distribution of aid, partly to prevent future tragedies. The command center had been planned before the WCK incident, but would be accelerated.

Israel stressed its commitment to aid. “We have no beef with the people of Gaza,” Mencer said. “Our beef is with Hamas.”

Update: Israel’s left-wing daily, Ha’aretz, reports that the target of the airstrike was an armed Hamas terrorist who had been at a warehouse and was thought to have joined the convoy, but who did not actually leave it with the WCK workers.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.