Chef José Andrés called for an end to “indiscriminate killing” by Israel’s army, the Israel Defense Forces, in Gaza after an air strike took the lives of several members of his World Central Kitchen organization on Monday.
“We are aware of reports that members of the World Central Kitchen team have been killed in an IDF attack while working to support our humanitarian food delivery efforts in Gaza. This is a tragedy. Humanitarian aid workers and civilians should NEVER be a target. EVER,” read the statement from the organization’s official X (formerly Twitter)account.
Andrés shared the post and wrote, “@WCKitchen lost several of our sisters and brothers in an IDF air strike in Gaza. I am heartbroken and grieving for their families and friends and our whole WCK family. These are people… angels… I served alongside in Ukraine, Gaza, Turkey, Morocco, Bahamas, Indonesia. They are not faceless… they are not nameless.”
He added a heartfelt condemnation of the attack: “The Israeli government needs to stop this indiscriminate killing. It needs to stop restricting humanitarian aid, stop killing civilians and aid workers, and stop using food as a weapon. No more innocent lives lost. Peace starts with our shared humanity. It needs to start now.”
Israel’s IDF said in a statement shared with ABC News that it is conducting a “thorough review at the highest levels to understand the circumstances of this tragic incident.”
“The IDF makes extensive efforts to enable the safe delivery of humanitarian aid, and has been working closely with WCK in their vital efforts to provide food and humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza,” the statement read.
The nonprofit global organization’s mission, per its website, is “providing meals in response to humanitarian, climate, and community crises.” It has been operating in Gaza for 175 days and has served more than 42 million meals, according to a March 28 post.
“WCK continues to send nearly 20 trucks to Rafah every day,” the post reads. “There have been many days when no trucks are let in and here lately an average of only 10 trucks per day pass through the Rafah Crossing. We need this entire process to go much faster so WCK, and other organizations, can get more aid into Gaza immediately.”
