Israeli strike in Gaza allegedly kills workers at World Central Kitchen charity

TEL AVIV – An Israeli car raid in the Gaza Strip on Saturday killed five people, a senior Palestinian health official said.

Three of them are company employees World Central Kitchen foundationwhose aid in the war-ravaged territory was temporarily suspended earlier this year after seven workers, most of them foreigners, were killed in an Israeli strike.

World Central Kitchen, which did not mention the death on social media, could not immediately be reached for comment. The Israeli military said it struck a wanted militant who was involved in the Hamas attack that sparked the war. In a later statement, he said the alleged attacker was cooperating with WCK and asked “senior officials of the international community and the WCK administration to explain” how it happened.

Violence in Gaza continues ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah seems to have persisted despite occasional episodes that have tested his fragility. Israel on Saturday struck sites it said were smuggling Hezbollah weapons along Syria’s border with Lebanon.

The attack on a vehicle in Gaza was the latest, according to aid agencies the dangerous job of delivering aid in Gazawhere the war has sparked a humanitarian crisis that has displaced much of the territory’s 2.3 million population and sparked widespread famine.

World Central Kitchen provides freshly prepared meals to those in need due to natural disasters or ongoing conflicts. Since the beginning of the war, its teams have been deployed in Gaza and throughout Israel and Lebanon, often serving as a lifesaver for Gazans struggling to feed themselves and their families.

Palestinian health official Muneer Alboursh confirmed the strike, and an aid worker in Gaza confirmed that three of the dead were WCK workers. The aid worker spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

At Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, a woman held a worker’s badge with the WCK logo, the word “contractor” and the name of a man who allegedly died in the strike. There was a pile of things on the hospital floor – burnt phones, a watch and stickers with the WCK logo.

Nazmi Ahmed said his nephew had been working for WCK for the past year. He said he was going to the charity’s kitchens and warehouses.

“Today, as usual, he went to work… and became a target without any prior warning and without any reason,” Ahmed said.

In April, seven workers died in a strike on a WCK-assisted convoy – three British citizens, Polish and Australian citizens, a Canadian-American dual citizen and a Palestinian. The Israeli army stated that the attack was a mistake.

The strike sparked international outrage and a short-term suspension of aid to Gaza by several aid groups, including WCK. Another Palestinian WCK employee was killed in August by shrapnel from an Israeli airstrike, the group said.

The war in Gaza was sparked by a Hamas attack in October 2023, when militants killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 250 hostages. More than 44,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory offensive, according to local health officials, who do not distinguish between civilians and combatants but say more than half of those killed were women and children.

Efforts to secure a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas have repeatedly failed. But Agreement negotiated through the US and France for Lebanon appears to be in force once it enters into force on Wednesday. Yet Israel accused Hezbollah of violating the ceasefire, and Lebanon accused Israel of the same.

On Saturday, the Israeli military said it struck sites used to smuggle weapons from Syria to Lebanon after a ceasefire came into force, which the military described as a violation of its terms. There was no immediate comment from Syrian authorities or activists monitoring the conflict in the country. Hezbollah did not immediately comment. Since the ceasefire began, Israeli aircraft have repeatedly attacked Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, citing ceasefire violations.

The Israeli attack in Syria came as rebels there stormed into the country’s largest city, Aleppo a shock offensive that added fresh uncertainty to a region torn by many wars.

The truce between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah calls for an initial two-month ceasefire during which the fighters are to withdraw north of the Litani River in Lebanon and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border.

Many Lebanese, some of the 1.2 million displaced by the conflict, they sailed south to their homesdespite warnings from the Israeli and Lebanese armies to stay away from certain areas.

Lebanon’s state-owned National News Agency reported that an Israeli drone attacked a car in the southern village of Majdal Zoun. Lebanon’s health ministry said three people were injured, including a 7-year-old child. Majdal Zoun, located near the Mediterranean Sea, is close to where Israeli troops are still present.

The Israeli army said earlier on Saturday that its forces, which remain in southern Lebanon pending a gradual withdrawal during a 60-day ceasefire period, were taking steps to remove “suspects” in the region without going into details, and said soldiers located and seized weapons found hidden in the mosque.

Israel says it reserves the right to strike against any alleged violations as part of the ceasefire. Israel has made returning tens of thousands of displaced Israelis home a goal of its war against Hezbollah, but Israelis are concerned that Hezbollah has not been deterred and may continue to attack northern communities, they were afraid of returning home.

Hezbollah began attacks on Israel on October 8, 2023, in solidarity with the Palestinian militant group Hamas and its attack on southern Israel the day before. Israel and Hezbollah maintained a low-level conflict of cross-border fire for almost a year until Israel stepped up its fight against a sophisticated attack that detonated hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah fighters. This was followed by an intense aerial bombing campaign against Hezbollah assets that killed many of its top leaders, including long-time warlord Hassan Nasrallahand began a land invasion in early October.

According to Lebanese health officials, Israeli fire in Lebanon has killed more than 3,760 people during the conflict, many of them civilians. The fighting has killed more than 70 people in Israel – more than half of them civilians – as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.

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Goldenberg reported from Tel Aviv, Israel, and Mroue reported from Beirut. Mohammad Jahjouh in Khan Younis, Gaza contributed.

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