World Central Kitchen to resume operations in Gaza

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - World Central Kitchen (WCK) will resume its operations in the Gaza Strip after seven of its aid workers were killed in an Israeli strike earlier this month.

"The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains dire. We are restarting our operation with the same energy, dignity, and focus on feeding as many people as possible," the charity's chief executive officer, Erin Gore, said Sunday in a statement.

WCK will continue to get as much food into Gaza, including northern Gaza, as possible by land, air or sea, he added.

"We have 276 trucks, with the equivalent of almost 8 million meals, ready to enter through the Rafah crossing. We’ll also send trucks from Jordan. We’re exploring the maritime corridor and utilizing the Ashdod Port.

"In addition to 68 community kitchens, we’re building a third high production kitchen in Mawasi (the other two are in Rafah and Deir al-Balah)," Gore added.

The Israeli attack killed seven aid workers -- three British nationals, an Australian, a Polish national, a US-Canadian dual citizen and a Palestinian -- on April 1.

It has triggered strong condemnation around the globe and calls for accountability, with many, including WCK founder Jose Andres, disputing Israel’s claim that the attack was a “mistake” and a case of “misidentification.”

Gore said that before halting operations, WCK had distributed more than 43 million meals in Gaza since Oct. 7.

Israel has launched a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas, which killed nearly 1,200 people.

More than 34,400 Palestinians have since been killed and thousands injured amid mass destruction and severe shortages of necessities.

More than six months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.