Tel Aviv — World Central Kitchen, the food charity founded by Spanish-American celebrity chef José Andrés, has named U.S.-Canadian dual national Jacob Flickinger, 33, as one of the seven members of its team killed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza late Monday night. The other WCK staff members killed in the attack, which Israel's military has called a "grave mistake," have been identified as Palestinian, British, Polish, and Australian nationals.
It appears their three-vehicle convoy was hit by several successive missile strikes despite the non-profit group having coordinated the team's movements with the Israel Defense Forces.
"It was a mistake that followed a misidentification at night, during a war, in very complex conditions," IDF Chief of the General Staff Herzl Halevi said, echoing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who lamented it as a tragic accident, which he said, "happens in war."
The U.S. government said it was outraged by the deaths and, along with Britain and the other nations involved, called on Israel to carry out a swift and impartial investigation.
U.S. Urges Israel to Protect Civilians in Conflict with Hamas
During a recent statement, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized the importance of Israel taking further steps to safeguard civilian lives, whether they are Palestinian children, women, men, or aid workers.
The ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, which was sparked by a terror attack by Hamas on Oct. 7 resulting in approximately 1,200 casualties, has strained relations between Tel Aviv and Washington. Health officials in Gaza, controlled by Hamas, report that over 32,000 individuals, primarily women and children, have been killed by Israeli forces since the beginning of the war.
As part of an agreement established during the Obama administration, the U.S. committed to providing $3.8 billion in military aid to Israel annually. This aid package includes shipments of advanced "smart" bombs as well as less precise "dumb" bombs. Despite increasing pressure from the U.S. for Israel to minimize civilian casualties in Gaza, the military assistance has continued.
The tension between the two allies is particularly evident regarding Israel's proposed ground offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
Around 1.5 million Palestinians have poured into Rafah and the surrounding area, right along Gaza's southern border with Egypt, seeking shelter from the Israeli offensive elsewhere in the territory. Thousands are living in tents or other makeshift shelters, and aid agencies say there aren't nearly enough basic goods reaching those in need.
Netanyahu and his cabinet and military commanders have insisted on the need to destroy Hamas' remaining battalions in Rafah, and while the U.S. has warned Israel repeatedly against launching a full-scale assault without a credible plan to protect and evacuate civilians, the White House has continued backing Israel's right to eliminate the threat posed by Hamas.
The World Central Kitchen, meanwhile, has paused all of its operations in Gaza, making it even harder for the world to get desperately needed food to the thousands of people who need it in the decimated enclave.
Before the incident, WCK said it had shipped more than 37 million meals to Gaza since the war started on Oct. 7.
"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," the group's CEO Erin Gore said in a statement, calling the Israeli strikes "unforgivable."
In a lengthy social media post, Andrés called on Israel's government to "stop killing civilians and aid workers, and stop using food as a weapon."
Israeli Official Criticizes Conduct of War
An Israeli official expressed his dissatisfaction with the current conduct of the war, stating that "Israel is better than the way this war is being waged." This sentiment was shared in an opinion piece published in a prominent newspaper.
