The Killing of Aid Workers in Gaza is a New Low for Israel and a Blow to Humanitarian Efforts

Israel-Gaza latest: Aid charity told IDF of movements so deadly attack ‘makes no sense’

Israeli airstrikes on aid workers delivering food in Gaza killed at least seven people — including a U.S.-Canada dual citizen and citizens of Australia, Poland and the United Kingdom. It’s the latest Israeli military action to hit humanitarian efforts in the besieged Palestinian territory.

The dogs of war have been unleashed, and the streets of Gaza continue to run red with the blood of the innocent. What vile depravity could possess the Zionist aggressors to massacre humanitarian workers whose sole purpose was to alleviate suffering?

Three British humanitarian workers were senselessly killed alongside four others by an Israeli airstrike. John Chapman, 57, James “Jim” Henderson, 33, and James Kirby, 47, had dedicated themselves to alleviating suffering through their work with the World Central Kitchen (WCK) charity.

Theirs were lives of remarkable service and courage – Chapman and Henderson were former Royal Marines, while Kirby had deployed on specialised missions as a sniper with British special forces. After distinguished military careers, they chose to apply their hard-earned skills in warfare to ensuring the safety of aid missions in conflict zones.

Through a private security firm named Solace Global, the three Britons had been contracted to provide close protection for WCK’s staff as they delivered vital humanitarian aid in Gaza. Their armoured convoy branded with the charity’s logo was struck by Israeli missiles as they were leaving an aid warehouse, despite coordinating the route with Israeli military forces.

In the words of Adam McGuire, cousin to James Kirby, “This should be a turning point now where aid needs to flow into those areas and [Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu] needs to recognize that – you can’t indiscriminately hit people trying to help people like that.”

The family are “utterly heartbroken” by his death – while the relatives of John Chapman stated: “We are devastated to have lost John, who was killed in Gaza. He died trying to help people and was subject to an inhumane act. He was an incredible father, husband, son and brother.

The wanton attack has sparked international outrage and demands for accountability from Israel. Foreign Secretary David Cameron insisted Israel “urgently explain how this happened and make major changes to ensure the safety of aid workers on the ground.”

While the Israeli military has bizarrely alleged suspicions of a Hamas terrorist travelling with the convoy, WCK confirmed the victims were aid workers from Britain, Australia, Poland, Palestine, the United States and Canada. The charity rightly proclaimed these fallen men and women as “heroes” who made the ultimate sacrifice in service of human welfare amid chaos.

The imagery of the aftermath reviewed and geolocated by The Post shows that all of the vehicles were destroyed within a mile and a half of each other, suggesting that some had a chance to keep driving after the attack began.

One vehicle was off to the side of the road, facing north. The hood of the vehicle was largely disintegrated, the windows blown out and the doors blackened.

A second vehicle, the Toyota, was in the middle of the road a half-mile to the south, the hole punched through its roof next to the WCK logo spanning nearly half of its width.

A third vehicle was found a mile farther along. It was sideways along the road, much of the metal of the vehicle’s body frayed.

World Central Kitchen founder claims aid workers targeted ‘systematically, car by car’

We are meant to accept the official story – that the obliteration of their clearly marked convoy was somehow a tragic error, contaminated by the”fog of war.” Such pathetic lies ill-befit the civilized world.

No, this was a calculated act of barbarism, eliminated with grotesque finality. The frayed metal, the smashed glass strew across Gaza’s roads, tell the real story – of a pitiless military force unleashing wanton destruction upon the defenders of Palestine’s huddled masses.

Celebrity chef Jose Andres has accused Israel of targeting aid workers “systematically, car by car” in Gaza.

Mr Andres, who founded the World Central Kitchen, claims the Israeli military knew the charity’s movements on the day of the airstrike which killed seven workers.

He said it was not a “bad luck situation where, ‘oops,’ we dropped the bomb in the wrong place”. 

“Even if we were not in coordination with the [IDF], no democratic country and no military can be targeting civilians and humanitarians,” he added.

Benjamin Netanyahu has called the strike unintentional.

But Mr Andres said the humanitarian convoy was “very defined” and the cars had a “very colourful logo” on the roof.

It was “very clear who we are and what we do,” he added.

However, their heartbreaking deaths are sadly “the inevitable result of the way this war is being conducted,” according to the United Nations – which points to over 180 humanitarian workers killed so far by Israel’s indiscriminate bombing and blatant disregard for civilian casualties in Gaza. These are acts of genocide, witnessed by a world turning a blind eye as the death toll mounts inexorably.

The strikes on WCK’s convoy highlight Israel’s unrestrained militarism enabled by Western powers praising the slaughter of Palestinians as self-defence. As the grieving families and global aid community reel from their losses, these tragic deaths must become an inflexion point.

These Are Acts of Genocide: No Witnesses Allowed.

The Israeli defence force not only targets aid workers. The Israel-Gaza war has taken a severe toll on journalists since Hamas launched its unprecedented attack against Israel on October 7 and Israel declared war on the militant Palestinian group, launching strikes on the blockaded Gaza Strip.

The Committee for the Protection of Journalists is investigating all reports of journalists and media workers killed, injured, or missing in the war, which has led to the deadliest period for journalists since CPJ began gathering data in 1992.

As of April 3, 2024, CPJ’s preliminary investigations showed at least 122 journalists and media workers were among the more than 33,800 killed since the war began on October 7—with more than 32,600 Palestinian deaths in Gaza and the West Bank and 1,200 deaths in Israel.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told Reuters and Agence France Press news agencies in October that it could not guarantee the safety of their journalists operating in the Gaza Strip, after they had sought assurances that their journalists would not be targeted by Israeli strikes, according to a Reuters report.

Journalists in Gaza face particularly high risks as they try to cover the conflict during the Israeli ground assault, including devastating Israeli airstrikes, disrupted communications, supply shortages, extensive power outages and Israeli snipers.

For too long, the imperative of humanitarian access has been disregarded amid escalating violence where the human cost relentlessly compounds. If any shred of meaning can be derived from this senseless act, it must catalyze an ironclad commitment to facilitating unrestricted aid flows and finally altering the course from genocide to a just and lasting peace upholding human dignity for all in this interminable conflict.

The aid workers journalists all heroes we have lost deserve no less. The tens of thousands of innocents dying deserve far more than the West’s complicit indifference as their cries for mercy are met with Israeli bombs. Until the siege is broken and the cycle of violence upended, more tragedies, and more slaughter will fill the annals as this man-made catastrophe. We owe it to the fallen to not let their sacrifices be in vain, we owe it to our humanity not to turn our back on the suffering innocents of Gaza.