Polish border town mourns local volunteer killed in Israeli airstrike in Gaza

By Jo Harper

PRZEMYSL, Poland (AA) – The southeastern Polish city of Przemysl on Thursday mourned the loss of a local man, Damian Sobol, a volunteer of the charity World Central Kitchen, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip on Monday.

“He was a brother to me. My neighbor, friend and we worked together,” Batlomiej Hadala, a volunteer helping Ukrainian refugees in Przemysl, told Anadolu. “What Israel did was terrorism,” he added, a few minutes after letting off a flare in front of the main railway station in Przemysl and crying out: “We will not forget.”

Sobol was honored with flowers and candles at the memorial site in Przemysl, 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the Ukrainian border, and which for the last two years has been the first stop for over a million Ukrainians fleeing the war with Russia.

Sobol, 36, together with six other volunteers, was killed in the Gaza Strip in an attack by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on a convoy of World Central Kitchen, a charity organization providing meals to victims of wars and disasters. Six other WCK volunteers, aged 25 to 57, also died in the attack - citizens of the UK, Australia, the USA and Canada (one person had dual citizenship) and Palestine.

Sobol had been responsible for the operation of the recently launched maritime humanitarian food corridor, from the island of Cyprus to the Gaza Strip. They had picked up cargo on the coast and transported it inland. At the time of the tragedy, the convoy was returning after delivering aid.

“People should not be killed for helping other people,” another mourner Aisha Kumpan told Anadolu. “It is not right, we just want to help,” Aisha, who is a Ukrainian of Jewish and Muslim parents, said. “I have the right to take Israeli citizenship, but now I don’t want my son to go into the Israeli army,” she added.

Information about the Pole's death appeared in Przemysl on Monday night. Although he had been living in Warsaw for some time, he spent most of his life in Przemysl and was widely liked.

By the decision of Przemysl President Wojciech Bakun, the state flag at the town hall in the Market Square was lowered to half-mast as a sign of mourning. Bakun told Anadolu he would respect Damian’s family and not speak before the funeral which will take place after the body is returned to Poland.

“Damian Sobol, an inhabitant of Przemysl, who tragically died in the Gaza Strip, was well-known in our city and had many friends and acquaintances who had the opportunity to work with him,” the city's website reads.

“We express our sincere condolences to the family of the Polish volunteer who helped the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip. Poland does not agree to the lack of compliance with international humanitarian law and the protection of civilians, including humanitarian workers,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted on X on Tuesday.

The case of the attack by the Israeli army on the WCK convoy is being investigated by the Israeli authorities. An investigation into Sobol’s death was also initiated by the District Prosecutor's Office in Przemysl, which is investigating a murder involving the use of explosives.