{"id":17504,"date":"2024-04-03T20:49:14","date_gmt":"2024-04-03T20:49:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/03\/they-had-just-delivered-tons-of-food-then-their-convoy-was-hit\/"},"modified":"2024-04-03T20:49:14","modified_gmt":"2024-04-03T20:49:14","slug":"they-had-just-delivered-tons-of-food-then-their-convoy-was-hit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/03\/they-had-just-delivered-tons-of-food-then-their-convoy-was-hit\/","title":{"rendered":"They Had Just Delivered Tons of Food. Then Their Convoy Was Hit."},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/04\/03\/multimedia\/03mideast-crisis-ledeall-sub-wjvk\/03mideast-crisis-ledeall-sub-wjvk-facebookJumbo.jpg?fit=1050,550&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"They Had Just Delivered Tons of Food. Then Their Convoy Was Hit.\" title=\"They Had Just Delivered Tons of Food. Then Their Convoy Was Hit.\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Lalzawmi Frankcom\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ms. Frankcom, an Australian known as Zomi, had a big day ahead on Monday. She and her colleagues from World Central Kitchen in Gaza were waiting for a ship to arrive at their newly built jetty so that they could unload hundreds of tons of sorely needed humanitarian aid.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">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 \u201cwere so excited, like they were going to a wedding,\u201d said Shadi Abu Taha, whose brother, Saif, was among them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But the trip ended disastrously.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Israeli strikes hit their convoy that night, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/04\/02\/world\/middleeast\/israel-gaza-aid-workers-killed.html\" title=\"\">killing Ms. Frankcom and six of her colleagues<\/a> from World Central Kitchen, the charity group founded by the chef Jos\u00e9 Andr\u00e9s that has been delivering millions of meals in Gaza.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Israel\u2019s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who has almost unequivocally rejected international criticism over his nation\u2019s prosecution of the war against Hamas, said on Tuesday night that Israel \u201cdeeply regrets the tragic incident.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Israel\u2019s military said the strikes had resulted from a \u201cmisidentification,\u201d but has not offered further details. \u201cIt was a mistake that followed a misidentification, at night during the war in a very complex condition,\u201d the Israeli military\u2019s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IDF\/status\/1775290147426152931\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">said in a video<\/a> on Tuesday. \u201cIt shouldn\u2019t have happened.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The deaths pushed the number of aid workers killed during the war in Gaza to at least 196, including more than 175 United Nations employees, many of them local Palestinians, according to the U.N. secretary general, Ant\u00f3nio Guterres, who called the death toll \u201cunconscionable.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<div data-testid=\"imageblock-wrapper\">\n<figure class=\"img-sz-small css-1189og3 e1g7ppur0\" aria-label=\"media\" role=\"group\"><figcaption data-testid=\"photoviewer-children-caption\" class=\"css-1ybnr6m ewdxa0s0\"><span class=\"css-jevhma e13ogyst0\">A photograph of Lalzawmi Frankcom released by World Central Kitchen.<\/span><span class=\"css-1u46b97 e1z0qqy90\"><span class=\"css-1ly73wi e1tej78p0\">Credit&#8230;<\/span><span><span aria-hidden=\"false\">Agence France-Presse \u2014 Getty Images<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The deadly Israeli strike is also setting back attempts to address the hunger crisis in the Gaza Strip, with aid groups saying they are now being more cautious about making deliveries and at least two suspending operations. World Central Kitchen itself <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/live\/2024\/04\/03\/world\/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news\/aid-convoy-israel-world-central-kitchen?smid=url-share\" title=\"\">stopped its work in Gaza<\/a> and sent three ships with hundreds of tons of food back to port in Cyprus.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The World Central Kitchen\u2019s ship, the Jennifer, had arrived in Gaza on Monday morning. It was carrying about 332 tons of aid that it would unload at the rudimentary jetty, which had been built in six days <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/03\/25\/world\/middleeast\/gaza-aid-ship-jetty.html\" title=\"\">from the rubble of bombed buildings<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The workers spent the day getting 100 tons of supplies off the vessel and to their warehouse <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/03\/25\/world\/middleeast\/gaza-aid-ship-jetty.html\" title=\"\">a few miles south<\/a> in Deir al Balah. They also had <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/press.un.org\/en\/2024\/db240402.doc.htm\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">a meeting<\/a> with the U.N.\u2019s senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, Sigrid Kaag.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The rest of the unloading would have to wait until the next day. The team would head back to Rafah \u2014 a move that typically requires coordination with Israel\u2019s military.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">At some point that evening, the World Central Kitchen workers piled into their vehicles. Their convoy \u2014 two armored vehicles and a third vehicle \u2014 left the warehouse<span class=\"css-8l6xbc evw5hdy0\">  <\/span>and set out on a coastal road. The Israeli military had been informed of the aid workers\u2019 movements, the charity said. They were heading south to their housing in Rafah, but they did not make it far.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The first reports of strikes in the area started coming in on Palestinian channels on the Telegram social media app about 10:30 p.m.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">That\u2019s when the Palestine Red Crescent, a humanitarian aid organization, got a call saying there had been an attack on a vehicle on Al-Rashid, the coastal road. The organization\u2019s medics contacted the Israeli army to coordinate their own movement, said Mahmoud Thabet, who responded to the call.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Once the approval was granted, he said, they drove to the site and found three vehicles destroyed, along with the victims\u2019 bodies.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe had no idea who the victims were,\u201d Mr. Thabet said in an interview. \u201cWe were shocked to see foreign individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Word that foreign workers had been killed started to emerge. Then later, photos of bloodied passports \u2014 British, Australian and Polish \u2014 along with images of broken bodies, circulated <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ytirawi\/status\/1774912680173650390?s=20\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">on social media<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Abdelraziq Abu Taha, another brother of Saif, said he had heard from a World Central Kitchen employee that there had been a strike near Deir al-Balah. Deeply worried, Mr. Abu Taha tried again and again to call his brother, but got no response.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">There were no immediate public statements from World Central Kitchen or the Israeli military about what had happened. And more graphic images began to spread on social media: bodies being lifted out of an ambulance at Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital and laid on the ground. Footage showed people taking photos and videos, jostling to get close, as passports were opened and placed on two corpses wearing bulletproof vests.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Just after 1 a.m., World Central Kitchen issued <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/WCKitchen\/status\/1774939414172442733?s=20\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">a short statement<\/a> saying that it was aware of reports that members of its team had been killed in an Israeli military attack while working to support humanitarian food delivery efforts in Gaza.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Israel\u2019s military responded soon after, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/idfofficial\/7301\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">saying at 1:34 a.m.<\/a> that it was \u201cconducting a thorough review at the highest levels to understand the circumstances of this tragic incident.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The first confirmation that World Central Kitchen workers had been killed came 14 minutes later <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/chefjoseandres\/status\/1774947232539644286?s=20\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">in a<\/a> <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/chefjoseandres\/status\/1774947232539644286?s=20\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">post<\/a> on social media from Mr. Andr\u00e9s. He mourned \u201cseveral of our sisters and brothers\u201d killed in an Israeli strike.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Messages of condolence, tributes and outrage poured in.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Abdelraziq Abu Taha kept trying to reach his brother, calling again and again until finally, someone picked up.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe owner of this phone is in Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital,\u201d he recalled a stranger\u2019s voice saying on the line. The hospital had received five bodies, the stranger added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It wasn\u2019t until 7:07 a.m. that the scale of the tragedy became clear \u2014 seven workers had been killed, World Central Kitchen <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/WCKitchen\/status\/1775027258249359451?s=20\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">said in a new statement<\/a>, placing the blame squarely on Israel\u2019s military for what it called \u201ca targeted attack.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Palestine Red Crescent said its medics had initially found five bodies at the scene. Two more were located later, after an hourslong effort, and taken to Al-Aqsa hospital, the organization said on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Photographs and videos of the aftermath that morning raised more questions about what had transpired on the coastal road. Three white trucks were in varying states of destruction, with the front of one burned down to its metal frame.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Charred papers bearing the World Central Kitchen emblem were scattered in the vehicle and on the roadway. Another vehicle\u2019s passenger-side roof was pierced by a hole about two feet in diameter, but the windshield and side windows were virtually intact. The third vehicle\u2019s doors, windows and roof were blown out, and its interior stained with blood. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Videos and photos verified by The New York Times suggested that the convoy had been hit several times. The imagery shows three destroyed white vehicles, with the northernmost and southernmost vehicles more than a mile and a half apart.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Weapons experts told The Times that the vehicles had each been struck by small, precise munitions, most likely fired from a drone. Chris Cobb-Smith, a security expert and British Army veteran, noted in a text message that the damage pattern suggested that the munitions had been \u201cvery accurate,\u201d with a \u201cdevastating but limited blast.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Justin Bronk, a senior research fellow with the Royal United Services Institute in London, reviewed videos showing the damaged vehicles. He noted in an email that they \u201cappear to have been hit with small, highly precise missiles.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI can\u2019t describe the shock when we saw those photos,\u201d said Abdelraziq Abu Taha. \u201cEven now, my father, my mother, none of us can believe it. He was under international protection. Only two hours earlier, he was by the Israelis at the pier.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Reporting was contributed by <!-- -->Adam Rasgon<!-- -->, <!-- -->Gaya Gupta<!-- -->, <!-- -->Matina Stevis-Gridneff<!-- -->, <!-- -->Michael Levenson<!-- --> and <!-- -->Anushka Patil<!-- -->.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lalzawmi Frankcom\u2019s 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. Ms. Frankcom, an Australian known as Zomi, had a big day ahead on Monday. She and her [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17505,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/04\/03\/multimedia\/03mideast-crisis-ledeall-sub-wjvk\/03mideast-crisis-ledeall-sub-wjvk-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[22910,10351,1720,1028,7646],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17504"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17504"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17504\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17506,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17504\/revisions\/17506"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}