Celebrity chef José Andrés condemned Israel for its 'unselective killing' after seven workers from his charity were killed while delivering aid to people in Gaza.
“The Israeli government must cease this unselective killing. It must end its limitations on humanitarian aid, stop harming civilians and aid workers, and refrain from using food as a tool of war,” Andrés shared on X, previously known as Twitter.
Andrés, the creator of World Central Kitchen (WCK), an aid organization that recently completed its second food delivery to over 1 million individuals in Gaza suffering from severe hunger, as reported by the United Nations.
WCK employees were exiting a warehouse in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza and driving in a “deconflicted zone” when an Israeli airstrike occurred. Andrés expressed deep sorrow and sympathy for their families and friends.
He emphasized that he has collaborated with the employees worldwide and emphasized that they are “not faceless…they are not nameless.”
“No more innocent lives lost. Peace begins with our shared humanity,” he expressed. “It must commence immediately.”
The initial vessel carrying 200 tons of food gathered by WCK set sail from Cyprus on March 12, followed by another shipment with a larger quantity of food.
Those who perished in the attack were from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, and Palestine, and one held dual citizenship in the U.S. and Canada.
President Biden reached out to Andrés to offer his sympathies after the workers were killed, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has acknowledged responsibility for the lethal strike. Following a hernia surgery, he was recently discharged from the hospital and admitted to the “tragic incident in which our forces unintentionally harmed non-combatants in the Gaza Strip.”
“These occurrences are a part of war,” Netanyahu expressed in his statement, while affirming that Israel is conducting a thorough investigation and will “take all necessary measures to prevent a recurrence.”
U.N. Secretary General António Guterres shared his thoughts online in response to the deaths, labeling the strikes as “devastating.”
The seven workers who were killed bring “the number of aid workers killed in this conflict to 196 – including more than 175 of our own @UN staff,” he mentioned.
“This is unforgivable,” Guterres expressed.
Since the conflict between Israel and Hamas commenced on Oct. 7, over 32,000 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds of thousands are facing a famine.
