WCK prepares 8 million meals for Gaza amidst humanitarian crisis

The World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid organization announced yesterday, Sunday, that it will resume its operations in the Gaza Strip, four weeks after the deaths of seven of its staff members in an airstrike by the Israeli military.

The NGO stated that it has prepared 276 trucks with nearly 8 million meals to enter via Rafah (south) and other trucks in Jordan, while also considering plans to restart deliveries via the maritime route from Cyprus.

In a statement, the NGO explained that it was "forced to make a decision": either to stop distributing meals "amid one of the worst hunger crises ever recorded," or to continue "distributing food knowing that (...) aid workers are intimidated and killed."

Seven WCK workers were killed in an airstrike on April 1, which hit the three vehicles they were traveling in. They had departed from the organization's warehouse in Deir al-Balah, in the central part of the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military stated that the bombing of their vehicles, which bore the organization's insignia, was a "serious mistake."

WCK emphasized that it will continue to demand explanations and changes to rules to protect aid workers. "Our demand for an impartial and international investigation remains," emphasized in its announcement, signed by its managing director, Erin Gore.

The American organization assured that it will rush to distribute as many meals as possible in the Gaza Strip, by land, sea, and air.

[With information sourced from CNA]