“It was a direct attack on us by Israel” — José Andrés

The aftermath of the airstrike on aid workers by Israel in Gaza continues to attract narratives, and now the founder of the World Central Kitchen, José Andrés has risen to point every finger on the Middle Eastern nation for orchestrating a direct attack on civilian aid workers.

The Renowned chef and founder of World Central Kitchen (WCK), accused the Israeli forces in Gaza of intentionally targeting his aid workers, leading to the deaths of seven members of his team in a strike on Monday.

Andrés asserted that the attack, which claimed the lives of WCK workers from various countries including Australia, Canada, Poland, the UK, and the US, as well as their Palestinian colleague, was not a mistake.

He claimed that Israeli forces were informed of the aid convoy’s movements and deliberately targeted the clearly marked vehicles.

“It was really a direct attack on clearly marked vehicles whose movements were known by everybody at the IDF [Israel Defense Forces]” Jose Andres was quoted saying.

The strike occurred as the convoy was leaving the Deir al-Balah warehouse after unloading over 100 tonnes of humanitarian food aid destined for Gaza. Despite the vehicles prominently displaying the charity’s logo and two of them being armored, all three were hit during the attack.

Speaking to Reuters, Andrés emphasized that this was not a case of misidentification or accidental bombing but a deliberate attack on known aid workers.

While Israel has apologized for the incident and promised an independent investigation, Andrés’s accusations have sparked international concern and condemnation.

Humanitarian aid to Gaza is now in jeopardy as WCK has suspended operations in the territory, and the UN has paused movements at night to evaluate the security situation.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and IDF Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi have both described the strike as unintentional and a grave mistake, attributing it to misidentification.

However, US President Joe Biden has criticized Israel for not doing enough to protect aid workers, urging for deconfliction of military operations with humanitarian efforts to avoid civilian casualties.