From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, December 31, 2024
World Central Kitchen complies with Israeli security checks of its employees
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleNICOSIA, Cyprus — World Central Kitchen says an Israeli security check of its employees in Gaza has prompted the charity to make changes so that it can continue feeding people in the Strip.
The charity says it “felt this step was necessary to protect our team and operations” following a Nov. 30 Israeli airstrike on a car in Gaza that killed five people, including a WCK worker. Israeli authorities said the WCK worker took part in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the Israel-Hamas war.
After the airstrike, Israel publicly demanded an investigation into WCK’s hiring practices in Gaza, including security checks through COGAT, the Israeli department in charge of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
WCK says it made “changes in Gaza” after Israeli authorities handed over the results of their security check. WCK didn’t explicitly say if it has terminated any employee who Israeli authorities had flagged.
The charity says that prior to receiving the COGAT results, “we had no reason for concern regarding any of these individuals and, because Israel does not share intelligence with aid organizations, we do not know the basis for Israel’s decision to flag these individuals.”
The Times of Israel Community.