Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the airstrike that killed aid workers was unintentional, as allies demand an explanation and key humanitarian groups have halted Gaza operations. Photo: Mohammed Saber/Shutterstock
The recent deaths of World Central Kitchen workers have made the number of aid personnel killed during the war in Gaza to at least 196, according to the U.N. secretary general, António Guterres.
Lalzawmi Frankcom’s text message was short and sweet: a heart emoji reply at 10:38 p.m. on Sunday to her friend Josh Phelps, who had sent along photos of their humanitarian work together on a reservation in South Dakota.
The team set off about 8 a.m. on Monday local time from Rafah, in southern Gaza, and headed north to Deir al Balah. They “were so excited, like they were going to a wedding,” said Shadi Abu Taha, whose brother, Saif, was among them.
But the trip ended disastrously.
Israeli strikes hit their convoy that night, killing Ms. Frankcom and six of her colleagues from World Central Kitchen, the charity group founded by the chef José Andrés that has been delivering millions of meals in Gaza.
Many countries, including Australia, Britain and the United States, where some of the workers were from, have condemned the attack and called for investigations and accountability.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who has almost unequivocally rejected international criticism over his nation’s prosecution of the war against Hamas, said on Tuesday night that Israel “deeply regrets the tragic incident.”
Israel’s military said the strikes had resulted from a “misidentification,” but has not offered further details. “It was a mistake that followed a misidentification, at night during the war in a very complex condition,” the Israeli military’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said in a video on Tuesday. “It shouldn’t have happened.”
在加薩運送大量食物的援助人員在他們的車隊遭到以色列襲擊後喪生
聯合國秘書長安東尼奧古特雷斯表示，世界中央廚房工作人員的死亡使加薩戰爭期間喪生的援助人員人數達到至少 196 人。
Lalzawmi Frankcom 的簡訊簡短而甜蜜：晚上 10:38 回覆了一個心形表情符號。 週日，她發給了她的朋友喬什·菲爾普斯 (Josh Phelps)，後者寄來了他們在南達科他州保留地共同開展人道主義工作的照片。
弗蘭克科姆女士是一位澳洲人，名叫佐米，週一她度過了重要的一天。 她和加薩世界中央廚房的同事正在等待一艘船抵達他們新建的碼頭，以便卸下數百噸急需的人道援助物資。
該團隊於當地時間週一上午8點左右從加薩南部的拉法出發，向北前往代爾巴拉赫。
他們“非常興奮，就像要去參加一場婚禮一樣”，沙迪·阿布·塔哈 (Shadi Abu Taha) 說，他的兄弟賽義夫 (Saif) 也在其中。
但這趟旅行卻以災難性的結局告終。
那天晚上，以色列襲擊了他們的車隊，導致弗蘭克科姆女士和世界中央廚房的六名同事喪生。世界中央廚房是由廚師何塞·安德烈斯創立的慈善組織，一直在加薩運送數百萬份餐點。
許多國家，包括澳洲、英國和美國（其中一些工人來自美國）都譴責了這起攻擊事件，並呼籲進行調查和追究責任。
以色列總理本傑明·內塔尼亞胡幾乎明確拒絕了國際社會對以色列起訴哈馬斯戰爭的批評，他週二晚間表示，以色列「對這一悲慘事件深感遺憾」。
以色列軍方表示，這起攻擊是由於「誤認」造成的，但沒有提供更多細節。 以色列軍方參謀長赫爾齊·哈勒維中將在周二的一段影片中表示，“這是在戰爭期間的夜間，在非常複雜的情況下，由於錯誤識別而造成的錯誤。” “這不應該發生。”
Source: NYT
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