In 35 years of friendship, Ferran Adrià had never heard José Andrés cry. On April 2, at around 6 am, the famous Spanish chef received a call from his friend, his "brother," also a Michelin-starred chef and founder of the American NGO World Central Kitchen (WCK). The 50-year-old was in tears and devastated: a few hours earlier, seven members of his humanitarian organization had died in the Gaza Strip, killed by three missiles fired successively by an Israeli military drone. On the evening of April 1, in their large warehouse in Deir al-Balah, Zomi Frankcom, Damian Soból, Jacob Flickinger and Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha were unloading 100 metric tons of supplies delivered via the maritime corridor established between Cyprus and the Palestinian territory.
By the time they decided to return to their operations center in Rafah, on the Egyptian border, it was already dark. Regardless, the WCK team knew the route well, having taken it many times since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in October 2023. They were escorted by John Chapman, James Kirby and James Henderson, three former British Special Forces soldiers who now worked for the private security company Solace Global, hired by the NGO. As usual, the seven aid workers provided the Israeli authorities with GPS coordinates for their three vehicles, two of which were armored.
The convoy had only covered a few kilometers when the first missile hit one of the vehicles, but did not explode. The aid workers took refuge in a second vehicle, which was also hit by an Israeli strike. Wounded, they were all killed by a third strike on the last NGO truck. The next day, to justify what it described as a "serious mistake," the Israeli army claimed to have targeted an armed man seen in the humanitarian organization's hangar, suspected of having slipped into the convoy. "This should not have happened," added Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi. In one of the images widely circulated on social media, the impact of the Israeli missile on the first vehicle is clearly visible in the exact spot where it reads "World Central Kitchen" in capital letters, along with the NGO's frying pan logo.
A new model for humanitarian aid
Founded in 2010 by Spanish-American chef Andrés, the NGO has made its mark on the geopolitical scene by devising a new humanitarian aid model centered on cuisine. In disaster zones, it partners with local chefs, supplies ingredients, helps prepare hot meals and distributes them to populations in distress. This logistical support is always accompanied by substantial financial assistance for local partner restaurants. With its few dozen employees and hundreds of volunteers, WCK has, according to the organization, distributed around 350,000,000 hot meals.
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