World Central Kitchen suspends Gaza operations after staff reportedly killed

Gaza, December 1 (IANS) The World Central Kitchen (WCK) announced the suspension of its operations in Gaza following the reported killing of its staff in an Israeli airstrike.

"We are heartbroken to share that a vehicle carrying World Central Kitchen colleagues was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza," the US-based organisation said in a press statement.

"At this time, we are working with incomplete information and are urgently seeking more details," it said, adding that it has no knowledge that any individual in the vehicle had alleged ties to the Hamas attack in early October last year, Xinhua news agency reported.

On Saturday, local sources and eyewitnesses reported that an Israeli aircraft targeted a vehicle in Khan Younis in southern Gaza with at least one missile, killing the WCK's Palestinian employees who were inside the vehicle.

Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces said Saturday in a statement that it struck a vehicle with a militant, who was simultaneously a WCK worker, that took part in the Hamas attack.

Israel has been conducting a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on October 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and about 250 taken hostage.

--IANS

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