The attack on the WCK was to speed up the starvation process,
Al Jazeera reports,
Israel’s attack on convoy could push more aid groups out of Gaza
The Israeli military’s attack on the World Central Kitchen aid convoy is devastating – targeting one of the most prominent humanitarian organisations in Gaza coordinating much-needed food delivered through the recently established maritime corridor.
As we’ve heard from the directors, the charity has now suspended its operations in Gaza and is considering future work inside the enclave. This could lead to negative repercussions for the humanitarian situation in the desperate north, where the group was distributing aid.
The attack further shows that Israel, despite repeatedly saying it is facilitating aid within Gaza, is at the same time attacking aid workers, aid seekers, and now the very organisations responsible for distributing humanitarian relief.
From a Palestinian perspective, this could be a possible step by the Israeli military to push humanitarian organisations to stop operating inside Gaza. That would give the military more flexible operational mobility on the ground in the north and force residents to flee from there.
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- Aid ships heading from Cyprus to Gaza to turn back with undelivered aid
Cyprus’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Theodoros Gotsis says 100 tons (90 tonnes) of aid were unloaded before World Central Kitchen suspended operations after seven of its workers were killed in an Israeli strike earlier today.
About 240 tons (220 tonnes) of aid will be turned back.
Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said the charity is suspending its operations in Gaza out of respect for the victims as well as to review its security protocols.
Cyprus has played a key role in establishing a maritime aid corridor to Gaza from its port city of Larnaca.
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World Central Kitchen pausing operations in Gaza after ‘unforgivable’ attack
Here’s more from World Central Kitchen (WCK) on the Israeli attack that killed seven of the organisation’s team members.
“World Central Kitchen and the world – lost beautiful lives today because of a targeted attack by the [Israeli army],” said World Central Kitchen (WCK) CEO Erin Gore.
“This is not only an attack against WCK, this is an attack on humanitarian organisations showing up in the most dire of situations where food is being used as a weapon of war,” said Gore. “This is unforgivable”
The statement added that WCK is pausing our operations “immediately” in the region and would “make decisions about the future of our work soon”.
According to a post shared on social media before the attack, WCK was operating more than 60 kitchens in central and southern Gaza, cooking hundreds of thousands of meals each day.