José Andrés urged Israel to do more in delivering aid to Gaza, stressing that nothing can reach the area without Israel's approval.
Andrés and his organization, World Central Kitchen, have been organizing efforts to deliver food and humanitarian aid to embattled Gaza. In a “Meet the Moment” interview from NBC’s “Meet the Press,” the chef reiterated calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and called for Israel to be “doing more” to get aid into the region.
He explained that nothing can enter Gaza without Israel's permission, emphasizing the challenges in providing aid.
He expressed difficulty in understanding why Israel continues to target Gaza while seeking to release hostages taken during the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.
He stated that Israel should be doing more, emphasizing the need for an immediate ceasefire and the release of hostages. He also questioned the strategy of targeting buildings where hostages may be located.
He suggested that peace should prevail and stressed the importance of the people of Gaza and Palestine thriving for achieving peace in the Middle East and Israel's future.
He also acknowledged that sending aid to Gaza could still encounter challenges despite his organization's efforts. An aid ship carrying about 200 tons of food gathered by World Central Kitchen set sail from Cyprus to Gaza. a “failure,” despite his organization’s efforts. On Tuesday, an aid ship loaded with about 200 tons of food gathered by World Central Kitchen set sail from Cyprus for Gaza.
“So we’re trying and I hope that in a few days we can say we had a little success and from that success, everybody being comfortable that this is possible, we can build a bigger system to bring huge quantities of food daily into the shores of Gaza,” he said.
The food shipment by sea comes days after President Biden announced the U.S. would build a temporary port on Gaza’s coast to increase aid deliveries. The temporary pier is still expected to take two months to build and could require the help of up to 1,000 troops.
