World Central Kitchen workers killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza will be honored at memorial

WASHINGTON — A memorial at the National Cathedral in Washington on Thursday will honor the seven World Central Kitchen assist workers killed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza earlier this month.

José Andrés, the celeb chef and philanthropist behind the Washington-based World Central Kitchen catastrophe reduction group, is anticipated to talk at the celebration of life service, and famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma will carry out, organizers mentioned.

The Biden administration mentioned Thursday that Douglas Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, and U.S. Assistant Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell would be amongst senior administration figures attending.

The assist workers had been killed April 1 when a succession of Israeli armed drones ripped via autos in their convoy as they left one in all World Central Kitchen’s warehouses on a meals supply mission. Those who died had been Palestinian Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha; Britons John Chapman, James Kirby and James Henderson; twin U.S.-Canadian citizen Jacob Flickinger; Australian Lalzawmi Frankcom; and Polish citizen Damiam Sobol.

After an unusually swift investigation, Israel mentioned the army officers concerned in the strike had violated coverage by performing based mostly on a single grainy picture that one officer had contended — incorrectly — confirmed one of many seven workers was armed. The Israeli army dismissed two officers and reprimanded three others.

The assist workers, whose journey had been coordinated with Israeli officers, are amongst greater than 220 humanitarian workers killed in the six-month-old Israel-Hamas conflict, based on the United Nations. That contains at least 30 killed in the road of obligation.

The worldwide prominence and recognition of Andres and his nonprofit work galvanized widespread outrage over the killings of the World Central Kitchen workers. The slayings intensified calls for from the Biden administration and others that Israel’s army change the way it operates in Gaza to spare assist workers and Palestinian civilians at giant, who’re dealing with a humanitarian disaster and desperately want assist from reduction organizations because the U.N. warns of looming famine.

World Central Kitchen, together with a number of different humanitarian assist companies, suspended work in Gaza after the assault. “We haven’t given up,” World Central Kitchen spokesperson Linda Roth mentioned final week. “We are in funeral mode right now.”

Religious leaders of a spread of faiths are set to take part in Thursday’s companies. Funerals had been held earlier in the workers’ dwelling nations.

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AP author Menelaos Hadjicostis in Nicosia, Cyprus, contributed to this report.