Israeli Strike In Gaza Kills World Central Kitchen Charity Workers

The strike on the vehicle in Gaza was the latest in what aid agencies have described as the dangerous work of delivering aid in Gaza.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — An Israeli airstrike on a car in the Gaza Strip on Saturday killed five people including employees of World Central Kitchen, and the charity said it was “urgently seeking more details” after Israel’s military said it targeted a WCK worker who had been part of the Hamas attack that sparked the war.

WCK in an email said it was “heartbroken” by the airstrike and that it had no knowledge anyone in the car had alleged ties to the Oct. 7, 2023 attack, saying it was “working with incomplete information.” It said it was pausing operations in Gaza.

The charity’s aid delivery efforts in Gaza were temporarily suspended earlier this year after an Israeli strike killed seven of its workers, most of them foreigners.

The Israeli military in a statement said the alleged Oct. 7 attacker had worked with WCK and it asked “senior officials from the international community and the WCK administration to clarify” how that had come about.

The violence in Gaza raged even as a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah appeared to be holding, despite sporadic episodes that have tested its fragility. Israel on Saturday struck what it said were Hezbollah weapons smuggling sites along Syria’s border with Lebanon.