Sixteen people, mainly Iranians, killed in traffic accident

World Central Kitchen has already delivered more than 50 million meals to the Gaza Strip, according to the aid organization, and hopes to expand further in the war zone. The organization ceased operations in April when seven of its employees were killed in an Israeli attack.

The aid group said it now has two main kitchens operating in Gaza and another 65 community kitchens in the small coastal enclave. The US-based charity run by celebrity chef Jose Andres resumed operations about a month after the airstrike.

The April 1 deaths sparked widespread condemnation and led to calls for an explanation from Israel’s allies, including the United States.

Nearly 100 of the group’s trucks crossed the border from Egypt last week, delivering much-needed supplies to the team to restock all of its kitchens, spokeswoman Linda Roth said at a briefing.

World Central Kitchen also plans to open a new distribution route this week in Jordan, where authorities have been very cooperative, Roth said. They are working to distribute both prepared meals and hot meals in Gaza, she said.

“We are continuing this work with our Palestinian partners. We have about 400 members of the Palestinian Relief Board and hundreds more volunteers working to provide food to all the people of Gaza. It is Palestinians providing food to Palestinians,” Roth said.

Israel is under increasing international pressure to alleviate severe hunger in the Gaza Strip, which has been rocked by the Israeli offensive against the Palestinian group Hamas.

The conflict began after Hamas attacks on southern Israel on October 7, in which Israeli sources said 1,200 people were killed.

Since then, much of the densely populated area has been devastated and most of its 2.3 million residents have been displaced. More than 36,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Health Ministry of the Hamas-ruled enclave.

The WCK aid workers were killed when their convoy was hit shortly after they were overseeing the unloading of 100 tons of food brought to Gaza by sea. Israel’s military expressed “deep sadness” over the incident and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it an unintentional incident.

There are no WCK operations in northern Gaza because it is more difficult for aid convoys to reach from the open southern border crossings, says John Torpey, WCK’s Middle East activation manager.

“Communication is still pretty bad,” he said. “It’s difficult to talk to our convoys.”

In some areas of Gaza there is no food supply and in many others people are struggling to find clean water, he said.

“We always strive to expand as much as possible,” Torpey said.

According to the United Nations, at least 196 humanitarian workers have been killed in the Gaza Strip since October.