One day after José Andrés’ World Central Kitchen confirmed that seven of its team providing food in Gaza were killed in an Israel Defense Forces strike, President Biden called Andrés personally to tell the celebrity chef he was “heartbroken” by the news.
“The president conveyed he is grieving with the entire World Central Kitchen family,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a media briefing today. “The president felt it was important to recognize the tremendous contribution World Central Kitchen has made to the people in Gaza and people around the world.”
Jean-Pierre added that Biden “also conveyed to Andrés that he will make clear to Israel that humanitarian aid workers must be protected.”
Andrés first rose to fame with his Spanish cooking show Vamos a Cocinar, and later founded World Central Kitchen. The non-profit, non-governmental organization devoted to providing meals in disaster zones such as Haiti after the earthquake, in the U.S. after Hurricane Harvey and in Ukraine after the Russian invasion.
According to World Central Kitchen, its team “was traveling in a deconflicted zone in two armored cars branded with the WCK logo and a soft skin vehicle.
“Despite coordinating movements with the IDF, the convoy was hit as it was leaving the Deir al-Balah warehouse, where the team had unloaded more than 100 tons of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza on the maritime route.”
Israel launched a military investigation into the strike and, according to local media, found that the army identified the cars carrying World Central Kitchen’s workers arriving at the warehouse in Deir al-Balah and also observed suspected militants nearby. A short time later, the vehicles were struck by the Israel Air Force as they headed away.
“This is not only an attack against WCK, this is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the most dire of situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable,” said World Central Kitchen CEO Erin Gore in a statement.
As a result of the deaths, World Central Kitchen has paused food deliveries in Gaza, where experts say famine is imminent.
“We were outraged to learn of an IDF strike that killed a number of civilian humanitarian workers yesterday from the World Central Kitchen, which has been relentless in working to get food to those who are hungry in Gaza, and quite frankly, around the world,” said National Security Council spokesman John Kirby. “We send our deepest condolences to their families and loved ones.”