Israel kills three World Central Kitchen aid workers as it pounds Gaza

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”.