A humanitarian aid organisation has suspended its operations in Gaza after a number of its workers were reportedly killed in an Israeli airstrike.
World Central Kitchen (WCK) said it was “heartbroken to share” that a vehicle carrying employees, with the group now “urgently seeking more details” on what happened.
Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that three employees of WCK were killed in the strike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.
Earlier, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it had targeted a WCK worker who, it claimed, was involved in the 7 October massacre last year. The military has not offered any evidence and The Independent has been unable to independently verify the claim.
In a statement responding to the attack, WCK said it “had no knowledge that any individual in the vehicle had alleged ties to the October 7th Hamas attack”.
The statement said: “We are heartbroken to share that a vehicle carrying World Central Kitchen colleagues was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza. At this time, we are working with incomplete information and are urgently seeking more details.”
It added: “World Central Kitchen is pausing operations in Gaza at this time. Our hearts are with our colleagues and their families in this unimaginable moment.”
Medics in the enclave said that a total of five people were killed in the strike. An aid worker in Gaza said that three of those killed were WCK workers.
The strike on the vehicle was the latest in what aid agencies have described as the dangerous work of delivering aid in Gaza, where the war has sparked a humanitarian crisis that has displaced much of the territory’s 2.3 million population and triggered widespread hunger.
WCK provide meals to people in need following natural disasters or to those enduring conflict. Its teams have often served as a lifeline for people in Gaza who have struggled to feed themselves.
The group’s aid delivery efforts in Gaza were temporarily suspended in April after an Israeli strike killed seven of its workers - three British citizens, Polish and Australian nationals, a Canadian-American dual national and a Palestinian.
The Israeli military called the strike a mistake.
Gaza officials say at least 44,382 people have been killed since October 7, when Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and capturing over 250 hostages, according to Israeli officials.
