Israel Kills Three Employees of World Central Kitchen in Gaza

Israel struck a vehicle that was carrying workers for the disaster relief charity World Central Kitchen (WCK) on Saturday, killing three of them. The organisation says it is “heartbroken” and urgently seeking more details.

The Israeli military claims the strike was targeting a WCK worker it believes was involved in Hamas’s 7 October attack on Israel. The Independent can’t verify that claim.

1. Ahmad Faisal Isleem Al-Qadi

Israel killed three employees of the aid group World Central Kitchen on Saturday when it struck a vehicle they were driving in, according to Gaza medics and local media. The vehicle was carrying food supplies and was not branded, said a spokeswoman for the disaster relief organization founded by celebrity chef Jose Andres. In April, Israeli strikes on a WCK convoy killed seven workers, most of them foreigners. Israel and relief groups have long clashed over how much of the aid is allowed to enter the war-ravaged enclave.

The IDF on Sunday identified the targeted worker as Hazmi Kadih, who it said had taken part in the attack on Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7. It also claimed he was employed by the charity and that it had been tracking him for some time. In response, WCK announced it was pausing operations in Gaza, which is undergoing a dire humanitarian crisis caused by the conflict.

WCK described itself as “heartbroken to share that a vehicle carrying staff members was targeted in this strike” and said it was seeking more details about the incident. But it said that it did not have information that the person who was targeted had ties to the 7 October attacks on Israel.

The Redd Barna news agency reported that 39-year-old Al-Qadi, who worked in the administrative team of WCK, had been struck while returning from the mosque in Khan Younis. The organisation called him a dedicated and hardworking employee. He was the second colleague of WCK to be killed since the start of the war last October. Save the Children, another aid group in Gaza, condemned the killing and called for an investigation. “This is a horrific attack on civilians in Gaza, including aid workers, and we call for an immediate and independent investigation into the facts,” its chief executive Inger Ashing said in a statement.

2. Safia Al-Assaf

Israeli forces struck a vehicle owned by the aid group World Central Kitchen in Gaza on Saturday, killing three of its employees, according to Palestinian officials and Save the Children. The Israeli military said the strike killed a Hamas militant involved in the 7 October attacks on Israel. Reuters could not independently verify the identity or involvement of the alleged attacker, but World Central Kitchen (WCK) said it had no knowledge that the individual in the car had any ties to the attack.

The group said it was “heartbroken” to learn of the killings, adding that it was pausing its operations in Gaza while it sought more information. It also called on senior officials from the international community and WCK to clarify how it hired a person accused of taking part in terrorist activity against Israel.

Israel’s army said the strike targeted a vehicle on a road in the Gaza city of Khan Younis that was used to transport supplies. The army said it had intelligence that the vehicle was carrying a wanted militant involved in the attack on the kibbutz of Nir Oz. It was hit by a missile in the back, according to an official from the military’s COGAT operation.

An earlier Israeli strike on a WCK convoy killed seven people, including an Australian woman named Zomi Frankcom. That incident prompted an internal investigation by the Israel Defense Forces, which said it was a mistake that followed misidentification.

Several other humanitarian workers have been killed in the conflict. Save the Children says 333 of its staff members have been killed in Gaza since the beginning of the war on October 7. Hundreds more have died and tens of thousands have been displaced by fighting between the Israeli military and Hamas-run security forces.

3. Ahed Azmi Qdeih

The strike highlighted what aid agencies describe as the dangerous work of delivering aid in Gaza, where an Israeli-led war last year displaced much of the territory’s 2.3 million population and triggered widespread hunger. It was the second time this year that Israel has killed an aid worker from the U.S-based charity World Central Kitchen (WCK).

The Israeli military said it was targeting an operative suspected of taking part in the Hamas attack that sparked the war, but did not offer evidence and Reuters could not independently verify whether he took part in the assault on the kibbutz of Nir Oz in October. WCK said it was “heartbroken” by the airstrike and had no knowledge that anyone in the car had alleged ties to the attack. The group, which has a presence in the Gaza Strip, also said it was “urgently seeking more details” and that it was pausing operations in the area.

A family member of the man named by Israel, Ahed Azmi Qdeih, said the allegations were false and aimed to justify his unlawful killing. The group described him as an engineer who dedicated his life to charitable work.

The night attack was apparently carried out because the vehicles left the convoy, which was accompanied by an Israeli security team. The convoy was traveling to the port of Khan Younis to deliver flour and other food. The vehicle that was targeted had a white sticker on the roof and an A4 piece of paper taped to its windshield, which would make it difficult for the convoy to be mistaken for a militant one, but the vehicles were travelling at night in a war zone, which adds to the risk of mistakes. A source close to the investigation said a number of other vehicles had been struck in the incident, which happened hours before senior leaders of the Palestinian faction Hamas were due in Cairo for talks with Egyptian officials to discuss ways to end the war.