A FOOD relief charity in Gaza has halted its work and is “urgently seeking more details” after an Israeli airstrike on a vehicle carrying its employees killed five people.
World Central Kitchen (WCK) said it was “heartbroken” by the attack and that it has paused all operations in the territory.
It said it was working with “incomplete information” and that it had no information that anyone travelling in the vehicle had alleged ties to October 7, despite claims from Israel suggesting this was the case.
Reports have said that five people were killed in the strike in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, with three of them WCK employees.
WCK’s work in Gaza was temporarily suspended earlier this year after an Israeli strike killed seven of its workers.
The Israeli military said the alleged attacker targeted in Saturday’s strike had taken part in the attack on Israel on October 7.
A statement from the Israel Defence Forces asked “senior officials from the international community and the WCK administration to clarify” how this person had come to work for the charity.
WCK meanwhile said in a statement: “World Central Kitchen is pausing operations in Gaza at this time.
“Our hearts are with our colleagues and their families in this unimaginable moment.”
WCK is a non-profit which provides “fresh meals in response to crises”.
An uncle of one of the aid workers killed said his nephew as “driving his car normally as usual” and that he was “targeted without prior warning and without any reason”.
In an earlier statement, the IDF said it had killed a “terrorist” who was “monitored for a while by IDF intelligence and was struck following credible information regarding his real-time location”.
It added: “We emphasise that it was a civilian unmarked vehicle and its movement on the route was not co-ordinated for transporting of aid.”
Reuters reported that at least 32 Palestinians were killed by Israeli strikes across Gaza overnight on Friday.
According to Gaza’s health ministry, more than 44,000 people have been killed and more than 105,000 injured since Israel’s bombardment started.
