Eduardo González
Speaking from Amman yesterday, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez demanded that Benjamin Netanyahu’s government “clarify the circumstances of the brutal attack” in which seven workers from the NGO World Central Kitchen, led by Spanish chef José Andrés, were killed by an Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken also demanded an investigation from the Israeli government, while British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak summoned Israel’s ambassador to London to protest the attack.
Sánchez said on his social networking site X that he was “horrified by the death of seven aid workers from World Central Kitchen in an air strike in Gaza“. “I have just sent chef José Andrés my sincere condolences and all my love and support for him and his team,” he continued. “Your solidarity, altruism and commitment to those who need it most is a source of pride,” he added.
“Horrified by the death of World Central Kitchen workers in Gaza while delivering food,” Albares said on the same social network. “My thoughts are with his loved ones. I have conveyed my solidarity to chef José Andrés and the World Central Kitchen family. Spain supports their work. We demand a ceasefire and entry of humanitarian aid,” he added.
The Israeli ambassador to Spain, Rodica Radian-Gordon, expressed her “deepest condolences to the families and chef José Andrés for the tragic death yesterday of seven employees of the World Central Kitchen” and has assured that “the Government of Israel has commissioned an independent, exhaustive and transparent investigation to clarify what happened.”
“World Central Kitchen is carrying out intense and laudable humanitarian work, coordinating its actions with the Israeli authorities. WCK was also one of the first NGOs to send aid to Israel after the massacre of October 7,” she added through the X network.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said the attack was “not intentional” and said that “this happens in times of war”. Captain Roni Kaplan, spokesman for the Israeli Defence Forces, wrote on social media: “We recognise that it was our mistake. A human error that we had no intention of making. We deeply regret it. And Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, phoned chef José Andrés on Tuesday to apologise.
For his part, chef José Andrés denounced through X the death of “several of our sisters and brothers in an IDF air strike in Gaza.” “I am heartbroken and grieving for their families and friends and our whole WCK family. These are people…angels…I served alongside in Ukraine, Gaza, Turkey, Morocco, Bahamas, Indonesia. They are not faceless…they are not nameless,” he continued.
“The Israeli government needs to stop this indiscriminate killing. It needs to stop restricting humanitarian aid, stop killing civilians and aid workers, and stop using food as a weapon. No more innocent lives lost. Peace starts with our shared humanity. It needs to start now,” added the Spanish chef.
The NGO itself denounced the death of the seven aid workers “in an Israel Defense Forces attack while working to support our humanitarian food deliver in Gaza.” “This is a tragedy. Humanitarian aid workers and civilians should NEVER be a target”, it added.
For his part, the EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, has condemned the attack that caused the death of the aid workers and has demanded “an investigation.” “Despite all demands to protect civilians and humanitarian workers, we see new innocent casualties,” he lamented.
