WASHINGTON - Celebrity chef Jose Andres said in an interview on April 3 that an Israeli attack that killed seven of his food aid workers in Gaza had targeted them “systematically, car by car”.
Speaking in a video interview with Reuters, Mr Andres said the World Central Kitchen charity group he founded had clear communication with the Israeli military, which he said knew his aid workers’ movements.
“This was not just a bad luck situation where ‘oops, we dropped the bomb in the wrong place’,” Mr Andres said. “Even if we were not in coordination with the IDF (Israel Defence Forces), no democratic country and no military can be targeting civilians and humanitarians.”
The aid workers were killed when their convoy was hit shortly after they oversaw the unloading of 100 tonnes of food brought to Gaza by sea.
Israel’s military expressed “severe sorrow” over the incident, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it unintentional.
Mr Andres said there may have been more than three strikes against the aid convoy. He said he was supposed to be there with his team but “wasn’t able to go back again to Gaza”.
Mr Andres, who spoke to US President Joe Biden on April 2, pressured the United States to do more to stop the war.
“The US must do more to tell Prime Minister Netanyahu this war needs to end now,” he said.
Mr Andres said his organisation was still studying the safety situation in Gaza as it contemplates starting aid deliveries again.
Australian, British and American citizens were among seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed when their convoy was hit shortly after they oversaw the unloading of food.
The aid convoy was hit as it was leaving its Deir al-Balah warehouse, the aid group said.
Israel’s military expressed “severe sorrow” over the incident and Mr Netanyahu called it unintentional.
At least 196 humanitarian workers have been killed in Gaza since October, according to the United Nations, and Hamas has previously accused Israel of targeting aid distribution sites.
In March, World Central Kitchen began moving food aid to starving people in northern Gaza via a maritime corridor from Cyprus, in collaboration with Spanish charity Open Arms.
The charity coordinated closely with Israel’s military, Arab nations and others, Mr Andres said earlier.
Mr Biden said he was “outraged and heartbroken” by the deaths. The US sided with Mr Netanyahu’s assertion that the strikes were not deliberate.
Founded by Mr Andres, 54, in 2010 after an earthquake in Haiti, World Central Kitchen has tried to sidestep red tape around the world to rush aid to disaster-hit areas, including Ukraine after the Russian invasion.
The conflict in Gaza began after Hamas attacks on southern Israel on Oct 7 that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli figures.
Since then, much of the densely populated territory has been laid to waste and most of its 2.3 million population displaced.
More than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza. REUTERS
