Tel Aviv — Chef José Andrés says his World Central Kitchen charity's team in the Gaza Strip appears to have been deliberately targeted by the Israeli military with deadly airstrikes that killed seven staffers on Monday, including a young American father. The Israel Defense Forces and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have called the airstrikes, which hit three WCK vehicles in succession, the kind of mistake that happens in war, but that explanation has been increasingly dismissed as insufficient and even disingenuous by Andrés and at least one of the slain aid worker's home nations.
"This was not just a bad luck situation where, 'Oops, we dropped a bomb in the wrong place,'" Andrés told the Reuters news agency, stressing that his team's vehicles were clearly marked and "it's very clear who we are and what we do."
"They were targeting us in a deconflicting zone, in an area controlled by IDF. They, knowing that it was our teams moving on that road... with three cars," he said, adding that he believed the seven aid workers killed by the strike in Gaza were targeted "systematically, car by car."
"The airstrikes on our convoy I don't think were an unfortunate mistake," he told Israel's Channel 12 in a separate interview. "It was really a direct attack on clearly marked vehicles whose movements were known by everybody at the IDF."
"I've been in Gaza," the celebrity Spanish-American chef said, breaking down. "Some of the people that died were, were my friends, and I served with them."
The IDF has called the attack on the three-car convoy a case of misidentification, but WCK said it had coordinated its movements in Gaza with the IDF.
Andrés said his team even tried to call the military as they came under fire — some moving from the first car after it was hit to a second vehicle, which was then also struck, and then the third, eventually leaving all seven of the aid workers dead.
Nir Barkat, Israel's economy minister, dismissed Andrés' comments as "nonsense" in an interview with CBS News' partner network BBC News on Thursday, insisting that it had been a "grave mistake" and for which he said Israel was "terribly sorry."
Barkat reiterated that, "unfortunately, in wars, friendly fire happens."
Speaking Thursday in Sydney after an Australian woman was named as one of the victims of the strikes, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called for complete transparency from Israel and dismissed the suggestion that such incidents were unavoidable in conflict.
Accountability is crucial following the death of American WCK worker Jacob Flickinger in the recent strikes. Albanese emphasized the need for a transparent investigation to uncover the circumstances leading to such a tragic event.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller echoed this sentiment, calling for a thorough and prompt investigation by Israel. He emphasized the importance of holding those responsible accountable and implementing measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Geolocation of the wreckage indicates that the three WCK cars were positioned far apart, pointing towards a potential misidentification. Retired U.S. Air Force Master Sergeant Wes Bryant criticized Israel's military for what he described as "negligent callousness" leading to this error.
"The lack of critical information about the vehicles involved in the convoy attack is pure negligence," stated Bryant during an interview with CBS News. "Identifying marked vehicles should have been a basic checkpoint to prevent such a tragedy."
The bodies of the six foreign team members, including Flickinger, were removed from Gaza on Wednesday. Flickinger, a 33-year-old U.S.-Canadian citizen, leaves behind a young son. The other victims from World Central Kitchen were of Palestinian, British, Polish, and Australian nationality.
The attack on the aid convoy has had a significant impact on the people of Gaza, who are already struggling with the effects of war and food shortages. World Central Kitchen and Anera, another American non-profit organization operating in Gaza, have both halted their operations in the region.
President Biden was scheduled to speak with Netanyahu following the attack on the WCK convoy. Biden expressed his outrage and sorrow over the incident.
