Expressing Bela Sungkawa For The Death Of WCK Officers, Israeli Military Promises Transparent Investigation

JAKARTA - The Israeli military expresses its condolences for the deaths of humanitarian officers from the World Central Kitchen (WCK) in airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, promising a transparent investigation.

Israeli spokesman Defense Forces (IDF) Rear Admiral Daniel huki in a English video statement said he spoke with WCK founders to extend his condolences following the attack that killed seven aid organizations.

"Last night, an incident occurred in Gaza resulting in the tragic death of World Central Kitchen employees as they carried out their important mission to provide food to people in need," said Laksda Miki, quoted by The Times of Israel April 3.

"As a professional military committed to international law, we are committed to thoroughly and transparently examining our operations," he continued.

"I just spoke with WCK founder Chef Jose Anders and conveyed Israel Defense Forces' deepest condolences to the family and the entire World Central Kitchen family," said Laksda kazi.

Lebih jauh Laksdamenyi mengatakan, IDF telah menyatakan "kerahan yang tulus kepada negara-negara sekutu kami yang telah melakukan dan terus melakukan banyak hal untuk membantu mereka yang membutuhkan."

"We have reviewed the incident at the highest level to understand the circumstances and how it happened," he said.

Laksdawi said the IDF General Staff Fact Finding Assessment Mechanism, the independent military agency responsible for investigating unusual incidents in the middle of the war, would investigate what he called "serious incidents."

"This will help us reduce the risk of similar incidents happening again," he explained.

"Over the past few months, the IDF has been working with World Central Kitchen to help them fulfill their noble mission of helping to distribute food and humanitarian aid to the Gaza people. WCK also came to help Israel after the October 7 attack, they were one of the first NGOs here," he said.

As previously reported, Israeli airstrikes killed at least seven aid workers from a team delivering food to civilians in Gaza, according to WCK and authorities in the enclave.

"They traveled in two armored cars bearing the WCK logo and other vehicles," WCK said in a statement.

Although its movement was coordinated with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the convoy was attacked while leaving Deir al-Balah's warehouse, after lowering more than 100 tonnes of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza by sea, the WCK said.

"This is not just an attack on the WCK, this is an attack on a humanitarian organization that appears in the most dire situation where food is used as a weapons of war," Erin Gore, chief executive of World Central Kitchen, told Reuters.

"WCK work is very important," they are at the forefront of humanity," he said.

"We will solve this issue and we will share our findings transparently", concluded Shari.