World Central Kitchen says separate incident ‘gravely injured’ Gaza worker on day seven others killed
An aid worker with World Central Kitchen was “gravely injured” in an Israeli airstrike on a mosque just minutes before the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) killed seven workers with the organisation earlier this month, the aid group said.
The Palestinian aid worker, identified as Amro, was injured in an airstrike on the al-Bashir Mosque in Deir al-Balah in Gaza, World Central Kitchen said in a statement Wednesday afternoon.
“Amro sustained serious head and hand injuries while he was off duty in a home close to the mosque in the area surrounding our warehouse and newly established kitchen in Deir al-Balah,” the humanitarian aid organisation said.He is now recovering in a hospital, getting “stronger every day.”
World Central Kitchen said the strike that injured Amro came just fifteen minutes before the IDF launched a series of three strikes that killed seven humanitarian aid workers on 1 April. The workers were returning after coordinating an aid shipment and travelling in vehicles bearing the organisation’s logo when they were killed. The convoy of three cars was traveling down the coastal highway in the Deir al-Balah area when Israel launched its deadly attack.
Moments before the drone strike on the World Central Kitchen convoy, civilians in Deir al-Balah told The Independent that there had been a wave of Israeli strikes that hit the central area including the nearby mosque where the organisation said Armo was wounded.
“The mosque is close to my house, the bombing was so close,” Sara, whose name we have changed for her own security, told The Independent on the night of the attack. “The sound of the ambulances didn’t stop for so long. We were trying to call our friends and family who live closer by to check but no one was answering.”
The victims were identified as Saifeddin Issam Ayab Abutaha, 25, of Palestine; Lalzawmi Frankcom, 43, of Australia; Damian Soból, 35, of Poland; Jacob Flickinger, 33, a US-Canadian dual citizen; along with UK citizens John Chapman, 57, James Henderson, 33, and James Kirby, 47.
Israel’s military has since called the deadly strikes a mistake, noting they are conducting an investigation.
José Andrés — the celebrity chef who founded World Central Kitchen — has since accused Israel of waging a “war against humanity.”
“The investigation should be much...deeper,” Mr Andrés told ABC News. “And I would say that the perpetrator cannot be investigating himself.”
This week, President Joe Biden called for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza to allow humanitarian aid to reach Palestinians. However, he still appears poised to make an $18bn sale of fighter jets to Israel — a deal which the administration says has been in the making for years.
His words came just after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the IDF has solidified their plan to invade the southern city of Rafah, where some 1.4 million Palestinians are currently sheltering. The IDF instructed civilians to move southward when they bombarded northern Gaza.
The Independent also exclusively reported this week that eight internal dissent memos were sent by US State Department staff during the first two months of the Gaza war, highlighting the widespread opposition within the department to the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza.
Since 7 October, Israel’s bombardment of Gaza has killed more than 33,400 people, according to the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza. On 7 October, Hamas launched a surprise attack against Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking more than 200 people hostage.
The Independent has contacted the IDF for comment.
