WCK launches fundraiser for families of aid workers killed by Israel in Gaza

The US-based NGO World Central Kitchen (WCK) launched a fundraiser on Tuesday for the families of seven aid workers killed in Israeli air strikes last week.

In a statement on the GoFundMe fundraising site, the organisation states that it "mourns the tragic loss" of the aid workers and the funds aim to "alleviate some of the financial hardships their families may face.

"Funds raised from this campaign will be distributed equally among them," the website states.

The target for the fundraising campaign is currently set at $250,000, with $73,600 raised at the time of publication.

WCK is supporting the families of the WCK Heroes we lost April 1. Thousands of you have reached out asking to help—this In Memoriam fund also goes directly to their loved ones: https://t.co/baF7NcMSK1 pic.twitter.com/16bl2AU29h

— World Central Kitchen (@WCKitchen) April 8, 2024

Some social media users have said Israel should bear responsibility for covering the financial costs for the families, rather than the public.

"Any lawyers reading this? Someone should sue Israel for compensation," one social media user wrote.

"No, the Israelis should be paying the families of those they murdered, and should be prosecuted in The Hague for war crimes," another added.

The NGO, which provides meals in conflict zones and natural disasters, was set up by Michelin chef Jose Andres along with his wife Patricia in 2010.

The organisation was supplying emergency food aid in Gaza, amid heavy Israeli bombing and a total siege since the start of the war, which has killed over 33,000 people, mostly women and children.

The WCK staff were travelling in a convoy in Deir Al-Balah after delivering 100 tonnes of food aid when they were targeted.

The group's vehicles were branded with the NGO's logo after co-ordinating their movements with the Israeli military in an area that had been declared a "deconflicted zone".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the air strikes on the WCK staff as "unintended" and "tragic".

CEO of WCK Erin Gore called the killing of the aid workers "unforgivable", adding that it was "an attack on humanitarian organisations showing up in the most dire situations where food is being used as a weapon of war".

WCK suspended its operations in Gaza following the death of its workers, which included three British citizens, a Palestinian, an Australian, a Pole and a US-Canadian citizen.

Following the killing of the staff members, Cyprus also announced that ships carrying around 240 tonnes of aid for Gaza would be turning back.