Chef Jos Andrs criticizes Netanyahu for 'lowering humanitarian support to determined ranges' | EUROtoday

“The air attack on our convoy was not just an unfortunate mistake that happened in the fog of war. It was a direct attack against clearly marked vehicles whose movements were known to the Israeli Army,” says the founding father of World Central Kitchen (WCK), the Spanish Jos Andrés, after the loss of life of seven NGO volunteers in an Israeli air strike within the Dir el Balah space within the middle of the Gaza Strip final Monday.

In an article printed this Wednesday within the Israeli newspaper Yediot Ajaronot and hours after President Isaac Herzog known as him to specific his “deep regret and sincere apologies for the tragic loss of life of the WCK staff”, José Andrés has thus responded to Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, after he famous that ” Unfortunately there was a tragic case in which our forces unintentionally attacked innocent people,” he added that these errors occur in a conflict.

“It was also a direct result of his government's policy of reducing humanitarian aid to desperate levels,” reproaches the well-known chef, who detailed that, on the day of the air assault, his group was coping with a cargo of support from the ocean “with financing from the United Arab Emirates, the support of Cyprus and the approval of the Israeli Army.” “The reason our team members risked their lives was precisely because “This cargo was so extraordinary and desperately wanted.”ade.

José Andrés, who remembers that his NGO also prepared food for Israelis evacuated from the north (due to rockets from the Lebanese Hizbul militia) and from the south (after the Hamas attack on October 7 that unleashed Israel's massive offensive in the Gaza Strip) highlights as good news “the choice of the Israeli Army and Government to analyze precisely how and why our WCK household died” but demands that the investigation begin “from the highest and never simply from the underside.”

“You should open the land crossings right this moment”

“Israel is healthier than the best way this conflict is fought. It is healthier than stopping the provision of meals and drugs. It is healthier than killing humanitarian staff who coordinated their actions with the Israeli Army,” he adds, before demanding that the Government: “You should open the land crossings right this moment for the entry of meals and drugs. Has to cease killing civilians and humanitarian staff right this moment. Has to begin the lengthy street to peace right this moment“.

Following the death of his colleagues, José Andrés announced the immediate suspension of his operations in the Gaza Strip where, according to his NGO, he served “greater than 43 million meals, making ready sizzling meals in 68 group kitchens the place Palestinians feed to the Palestinians.”

In the article in Yediot Ajaronotthe cook with Spanish and American nationality sent a message to the Israelis: “In the worst situations, after probably the most severe terrorist assault in its historical past, The time has come for the perfect of Israel to look. You can't save the hostages by bombing each constructing in Gaza. “You can't win the war by starving an entire population.”

Israel flatly denies that it blocks humanitarian support and blames UNRWA (United Nations Palestine Refugee Agency) and Hamas for the truth that a lot of it doesn’t attain Gaza, particularly within the north of the Palestinian enclave.

But worldwide criticism of the humanitarian state of affairs and the excessive variety of deaths within the Gaza Strip after six months of conflict has been rising, now reworking, following the loss of life of the seven volunteers of the well-known NGO in a drone assault. israel, in an enormous wave of condemnations. Especially from the nations the place the victims got here from, along with the Palestinian Saifeddin Issam AyadAbutaha: Poland (Damian Sobol), Australia (Zomi Frankcom), Gran Bretaa (John Chapman, James Henderson y James Kirby) Canada and the United States (twin nationality of Jacob Flickinger)

The US, Israel's primary ally, continues to assist the purpose of ending Hamas. However, within the final two months they’ve maintained a tense dialogue about an eventual Rafah operation, as introduced by Netanyahu, specifically and the conflict technique normally. After the assault in Dir el Balah, the White House confirmed its indignation utilizing the harshest phrases for the reason that begin of the conflict in opposition to Israel. Apart from demanding extra safety of humanitarian staff and civilians in addition to extra humanitarian support, Washington requires rapid investigation and the debugging of tasks.

In this sense, the top of the Israeli Army, Herzi Halevi, assured an “independent investigation” emphasizing that “the attack was not carried out with the intention of harming WCK workers. It was a serious mistake that followed a mistaken identification, at night, during a war, in very complex conditions. It shouldn't have happened. “Israel is at conflict with Hamas, not with the folks of Gaza.”

Israel saw in WCK a fundamental and necessary partnership in the “day after” the war in the Gaza Strip instead of UNRWA, according to local analysts. They predict an increase in international pressure to end the military offensive, which they believe will lead to a hardening of Hamas's position in the negotiations to achieve a truce and the exchange of Palestinian prisoners for Israeli kidnappers.

The praise of Israeli leaders and officials for José Andrés' NGO contrasts with the criticism of UNRWA, which he accuses “of being complicit in Hamas terrorism” and that “of its 13,000 workers, 12% are affiliated with Hamas and Jihad.” who use their facilities to fire missiles and hide.”

UNRWA categorically denies the accusations, emphasizes its important function within the Palestinian fringe hit by a dramatic state of affairs and, after condemning the assault in opposition to WCK, denounces that 176 members of his workers died together with a number of within the efficiency of their responsibility. “Humanitarian workers must be protected at all times,” UNRWA requests, additionally demanding an instantaneous ceasefire “to save lives and prevent famine in the Gaza Strip.”