The suspension of operations by World Central Kitchen (WCK) and Anera in the Gaza Strip has left many Palestinians concerned about how they will provide for their families.
WCK and Anera were jointly serving two million meals per week in the Palestinian territory, where the UN has warned that half the population is facing severe hunger due to Israeli restrictions on aid, ongoing hostilities, and the breakdown of order.
WCK’s decision to pause its work has also resulted in the halt of a maritime aid corridor from Cyprus, which was established to increase aid flow into the north of Gaza and prevent a potential famine.
The attack on the WCK convoy, which was clearly marked with the charity’s logo and had coordinated movements with Israeli authorities, has raised concerns about the entire aid system in the region.
The Norwegian Refugee Council has warned that the incident has pushed the aid system to the brink. The Israeli military has acknowledged the strike as a “grave mistake” resulting from misidentification at night.
The commitment to protect aid workers and establish a humanitarian command center for better coordination was emphasized by the individual.
However, aid groups remain skeptical about the effectiveness of these promises, as they believe that meaningful changes may not occur.
They also highlight that this incident is not an isolated one, with a reported 196 Palestinian aid workers killed since the beginning of the war. Jan Egeland, the secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, mentioned that the organization in question had close cooperation with the Israelis in terms of sharing information about their workers’ locations and movements.
Prior to the strike, the organization played a significant role in Gaza, employing numerous staff members and indirectly supporting thousands of individuals through their community kitchens and distribution system. While the organization provided a notable amount of aid, the majority was still delivered by UN agencies.
The founder of the organization expressed their determination to continue their work despite the situation.
Another charity, Anera, which collaborated with the organization, decided to pause its operations due to the intolerable risk to the safety of its Palestinian staff and their families. They cited an incident in which their logistics coordinator and his son were killed in an Israeli air strike, despite providing the shelter’s coordinates to the military.
