ICSPR The Assassination of the World Central Kitchen Team Deepens Famine and Genocide in Gaza
Date: November 30, 2024
Press Release
ICSPR: The Assassination of the World Central Kitchen Team Deepens Famine and Genocide in Gaza
The International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (ICSPR) strongly condemns the heinous assassination of the international relief team working with the World Central Kitchen. The team members were killed when their vehicle was bombed by an Israeli occupation drone in a flagrant and complete war crime.
The crime was committed this morning, Saturday, November 30, 2024, when an Israeli drone targeted a jeep belonging to the World Central Kitchen organization. The vehicle was traveling on Salah Al-Din Street, between the Zanna and Al-Satar Al-Sharqi areas in eastern Khan Yunis. The attack resulted in the deaths of five Palestinians, including three staff members of the organization, which provides humanitarian aid to displaced individuals trapped in shelters and displacement centers in the southern Gaza Strip.
The victims are Azem Jalal Abu Daqa, Ahed Azmi Qudaih, and Mohammad Adel Al-Namla.
This marks the second time the organization’s workers have been targeted. On April 1, 2024, seven of its employees, including individuals of American, Australian, British, and Polish nationalities, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the organization’s relief vehicles on Al-Rashid Street in Deir Al-Balah.
As the Israeli war on Gaza enters its 421st day, Israeli forces have intensified their attacks on northern and central areas of the Strip, including Nuseirat, Al-Maghazi, Deir Al-Balah, Beit Lahia, and Al-Mashrou’, as well as Gaza City. These attacks have claimed the lives of over 117 Palestinians in gruesome massacres in less than 24 hours. This raises the death toll since October 7, 2023, to 44,363 Palestinians, with 105,070 others injured, most of whom are children and women. These figures are not final, as thousands of fatalities and injuries remain under the rubble and on the streets, unreachable by rescue teams. Over two million forcibly displaced people are enduring an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe and acute famine due to the blockade on humanitarian aid in the southern Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, aid to residents of the northern Gaza Strip has been completely obstructed for over two months, as part of Israel’s ongoing policy to forcibly empty the north of its population through killing, massacres, starvation, and the destruction of homes, health facilities, and essential services.
The ICSPR reiterates that the Israeli occupation persists in its systematic killing of unarmed civilians and international relief teams and humanitarian workers. Approximately 230 humanitarian workers have been killed, reflecting the occupation’s deliberate intent to terrorize and deter them from continuing their crucial missions. This is part of its ongoing starvation policies aimed at depriving the besieged Gaza population of food, water, and medicine, driving them to despair and hopelessness. These policies constitute ethnic cleansing and aim to make Gaza uninhabitable, destroying the lives of its residents.
The ICSPR emphasizes that the ongoing deliberate Israeli crimes and violations of international laws and norms, especially those protecting humanitarian workers, are deeply alarming. The ICSPR condemns the international community’s failure to halt the genocide and attacks on civilians and humanitarian workers and calls for a decisive and impactful response to these crimes. Accordingly, ICSPR states the following:
- ICSPR demands that the international community and the UN Security Council condemn this heinous crime, conduct an urgent and serious investigation, hold those responsible accountable, and impose sanctions on the Israeli occupation.
- ICSPR calls on the international community to pressure the occupation authorities to stop genocide crimes, comply fully with UN Security Council resolutions for an immediate ceasefire, and adhere to the rulings of the International Court of Justice. This includes ensuring safe and sustainable humanitarian access, and protecting all humanitarian workers who play a vital role in alleviating the catastrophic humanitarian crisis caused by over 14 months of ongoing genocide in Gaza.
