April 29 (UPI) — Four weeks after an Israeli Defense Forces airstrike killed seven World Central Kitchen workers delivering food in Gaza, the nonprofit organization said Monday it would restart its operations.
Israel attacked the convoy of marked World Central Kitchen vehicles on April 1, despite coordinating its route with Israeli military authorities. WCK officially immediately stopped its operations out of security concerns.
“The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains dire,” World Central Kitchen said. “We are restarting our operation with the same energy, dignity, and focus on feeding as many people as possible.
“To date we have distributed more than 43 million meals and we are eager to deliver millions more, Food is a universal right and our work in Gaza has been the most life-saving mission in our 14-year organization history.”
The organization said it has 276 trucks that can deliver nearly eight million meals, which can enter via ground through the Rafah Crossing. It said it will also send aid trucks through Jordan.
“We’re exploring the maritime corridor and utilizing the Ashdod Port,” the World Central Kitchen said. “In addition to 68 community kitchens, we’re building a third high-production kitchen in Mawasi. The other two are in Rafah and Deir al-Balah.”
Despite Israeli authorities saying they are investigating the airstrike, the kitchen has continued to call for an independent probe into the deadly incident. Israel has initially said the attack happened because of a misidentification of the vehicles at night.