The main reason Generals hate going to war is that once you’re at war, it’s the private on the ground who decides your strategy and even your policy. It can’t be helped. Now, Operation Iron Swords has had some bad moments, but in terms of damage to Israel’s image and reputation, Tuesday morning’s air attack on a vehicle in a convoy of World Central Kitchen that killed seven international volunteers – that was on the scale of IDF Assassinates Mother Theresa. And kicks her puppy.
Here’s the vehicle of the World Central Kitchen’s four international team members who were killed by an Israeli airstrike targeting them last night in central Gaza. pic.twitter.com/2RwutNdxdY
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) April 2, 2024
World Central Kitchen CEO Erin Gore announced he was pausing WCK’s operations immediately in the region, adding, “We will be making decisions about the future of our work soon.”
IDF spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, spoke with WCK founder, Chef Jose Andres, and expressed the IDF’s deepest condolences to the entire World Central Kitchen family. He stated that the IDF would enlist an independent investigating body to look into the tragic incident.
IDF spokesperson, RAdm. Daniel Hagari, spoke with @WCKitchen founder, @chefjoseandres, and expressed the IDF’s deepest condolences to the entire World Central Kitchen family.
The work of WCK is critical. pic.twitter.com/nRUYZVxif3
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) April 2, 2024
The WCK team was traveling in a deconflicted zone in two armored cars branded with the WCK logo and a “soft skin” vehicle. “Despite coordinating movements with the IDF, the convoy was hit as it was leaving the Deir al-Balah warehouse, where the team had unloaded more than 100 tons of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza on the maritime route,” Gore said, adding, “This is not only an attack against WCK, this is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the most dire of situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable.”
You want more? Gluttons for punishment ya’ll are, I see. Erin said, “I am heartbroken and appalled that we—World Central Kitchen and the world—lost beautiful lives today because of a targeted attack by the IDF. The love they had for feeding people, the determination they embodied to show that humanity rises above all, and the impact they made in countless lives will forever be remembered and cherished.”
White House National Security Council Spokesperson Adrienne Watson tweeted, “We are heartbroken and deeply troubled by the strike that killed WCK aid workers in Gaza. Humanitarian aid workers must be protected as they deliver aid that is desperately needed, and we urge Israel to swiftly investigate what happened.”
According to Wiki, citing a 2020 study titled, “Professional Humanitarianism and Violence against Aid Workers,” attacks on humanitarian workers have become more frequent since the 1990s and 2000s.
In 2017, the Aid Worker Security Database documented 139 humanitarian workers killed in intentional attacks out of the estimated global population of 569,700 workers. In every year since 2013, more than 100 humanitarian workers were killed. This is attributed to several factors, including the increasing number of humanitarian workers deployed, the increasingly unstable environments in which they work, and the erosion of the perception of neutrality and independence. In 2012 road travel was seen to be the most dangerous context, with kidnappings of aid workers quadrupling in the last decade, reaching more aid workers victims than any other form of attack.
So, naturally, treating Monday’s unfortunate incident as if it was the first such event since Cain attacked Abel’s humanitarian aid convoy, is political. Humanitarian aid volunteers die anonymously unless it was done by a Jewish guy.
The investigation should rule whether the reason for the attack was an erroneous detection that led to the aerial attack of an unmanned aerial vehicle, and if the attack went through the mandatory approval protocol.
PM Netanyahu stated, “Unfortunately, in the past day there was a tragic event in which our forces unintentionally harmed non-combatants in the Gaza Strip. This happens in war. We are conducting a thorough inquiry and are in contact with the governments. We will do everything to prevent a recurrence.”
