The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, admitted on Tuesday (04/02/2024) that seven employees of the NGO World Central Kitchen (WCK), run by Spanish-American chef José Andrés, died in an “unintentional” Israeli bombing in Gaza.
“Unfortunately yesterday (Monday), a tragic incident occurred, our forces unintentionally beat innocent people in the Gaza Strip,” Netanyahu declared from the hospital where he underwent surgery on Sunday for a hernia.
“This happens in a war (…), we are in contact with the governments and we will do everything possible to prevent it from happening again,” he added.
The seven victims were traveling aboard a WCK vehicle that was destroyed in the attack. They all worked for the US-based NGO World Central Kitchen, which has been delivering food aid by sea from Cyprus to Gaza.
Various heads of state and senior government representatives condemned the death of the seven humanitarian workers and demanded that Israel clarify the circumstances of the attack.
Canada demands exhaustive investigation
Canada requested this Tuesday a “full investigation” of the Israeli attack against WCK employees and demanded that “those responsible for these deaths be held accountable.”
At a press conference, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described the attack as “unacceptable” and reiterated the need for an investigation to take place and those responsible to be held accountable.
For her part, the Chancellor of Canada, Mélanie Joly, declared herself “horrified” by the attack by the Israeli armed forces and confirmed that one of the seven dead is Canadian.
«We condemn these attacks and request a full investigation. “Canada hopes that all those responsible for these deaths will be held accountable and we will communicate this directly to Israel,” Joly stressed in a message on his X account.
WCK suspends work in Gaza after attack
The organization announced after the attack that it was “interrupting operations” in the Palestinian territory, mired in a devastating war for almost six months.
The victims are from “Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, one with dual nationality of the United States and Canada, and Palestine,” WCK detailed.
Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said he spoke with WCK’s famous chef, José Andrés, to express his “deepest condolences.”
He added that the investigation would be carried out by the Israeli military’s Fact-Finding and Assessment Mechanism and that “we will share our findings transparently.”
Israel’s Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi “will personally review the results of the initial investigation tonight,” an army spokesman said.
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