The Israeli military has killed three workers with the World Central Kitchen (WCK) and at least two other people in an air strike on a vehicle in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, in what was the third deadly attack on the aid group this year.
The US-based charity, which runs community kitchens in Gaza, said it had paused its operations in Gaza after the attack on Saturday.
“We are heartbroken to share that a vehicle carrying World Central Kitchen colleagues was hit by an Israeli air strike in Gaza,” WCK said in a statement.
“At this time, we are working with incomplete information and are urgently seeking more details.”
The Israeli military claimed that it was targeting a “terrorist” who had participated in the October 7 attacks on Israel and was employed by the WCK.
“The terrorist had been under intelligence surveillance for a long time and was targeted based on reliable intelligence information about his location in real time,” Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a post on X.
However, the WCK said it had “no knowledge that any individual in the vehicle had alleged ties to the October 7 Hamas attack”.
Earlier on Saturday, Palestinian Civil Defence spokesperson Mahmoud Basal told the AFP news agency that the bodies of “at least five dead were transported [to hospital], including the three employees of World Central Kitchen” following the attack.
“All three men worked for WCK and they were hit while driving in a WCK four-wheel drive vehicle in Khan Younis,” Basal said, adding that the vehicle had been “marked with its logo clearly visible”.
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