World Central Kitchen calls for independent probe into deadly Israeli airstrike

Staff members of the U.S.-based aid group World Central Kitchen wait at a hospital morgue on Tuesday, a day after a convoy of the NGO was hit in an Israeli strike. On Thursday, the charity called for an independent investigation into the attack. Photo by Ismael Mohamad/UPI | License Photo

April 4 (UPI) — U.S. food aid charity World Central Kitchen on Thursday called for an independent investigation into an Israeli airstrike that killed seven of its employees in Gaza earlier this week.

The strike occurred Monday, hitting a World Central Kitchen vehicle the employees were riding in south of Central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah.

The deceased have been identified as dual U.S.-Canadian Jacob Flickinger, 33, Australian Lalzawmi Frankcom, 43, Polish national Damian Sobol, 35, and Britons John Chapman, 57, James Henderson, 33, and James Kirby, 47. The seventh victim was 25-year-old Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha of Gaza.

Israel has said it is launching an investigation into the strike, but World Central Kitchen on Thursday called for a third-party probe of the attack.

“An independent investigation is the only way to determine the truth of what happened, ensure transparency and accountability for those responsible and prevent future attacks on humanitarian aid workers,” Javier Garcia, executive co-chair of the charity, and Erin Gore, its chief executive officer, said in a joint statement.

Israel Defense Forces Chief General Staff Herzi Halevi has said the attack on the World Central Kitchen vehicle was not intentional and should not have happened.

“It was a mistake that followed a misidentification at night, during a war, in very complex conditions,” he said in a recorded statement.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said Israel will conduct a review of the event and has been in contact with the governments of the deceased workers.

“Unfortunately, in the past day there was a tragic event in which our forces unintentionally harmed non-combatants in the Gaza Strip. This happens in war,” he said.

In the tersely worded statement, the World Central Kitchen executives dismissed the explanations coming from Israel, stating the military attack involved multiple strikes targeting three of its vehicles.

“All three vehicles were carrying civilians, they were marked as WCK vehicles and their movements were in full compliance with Israeli authorities, who were aware of their itinerary, route and humanitarian mission,” Garcia and Gore said.

The pair of executives said they have asked Australia, Britain, Canada, Poland and the United States to join their demand for an independent investigation.

On Wednesday, the charity had called on Israel to preserve all documents, communications and video as well as other material related to Monday’s strike to ensure the integrity of the investigation.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters during a press briefing that they expect Israel to conduct a full, swift and transparent investigation into the strike and if it shows the need for accountability, “then there, of course, should be accountability.”

“We will wait to see the results of that investigation before we pass judgment on it,” he said.

“The Israelis have said to us, and they’ve said publicly, that they intend to conduct this investigation swiftly. We want to see it wrapped up as soon as possible and see them put in place any measures to prevent this from happening again in the future.”

Founded in 2010 by chef Jose Andres, the charity has served more than 34 million meals in Gaza, Israel and Lebanon since Oct. 7 when the war between Israel and Hamas in the Palestinian enclave began.

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