Seven employees of the non-governmental organization World Central Kitchen (WCK) were killed yesterday, Monday, in an Israeli airstrike on a vehicle they were riding in, the American NGO announced today, adding that it is suspending its activities in the region.

“World Central Kitchen is devastated to confirm that seven members of our team have been killed in Gaza by Israeli forces,” the US-based NGO officially announced.

According to the statement, the workers “were from Australia, Poland, Britain, one had dual US-Canadian citizenship and one was Palestinian.”

Despite WCK acting in coordination with the Israeli armed forces, its convoy was hit as it was leaving a depot in the Gaza Strip city of Deir al-Bala, after having landed more than 100 tons of humanitarian aid for the Palestinians of the enclave.

“This is not just an attack on WCK, this is an attack on the humanitarian organizations that operate in the most difficult conditions, where food is used as a weapon of war”WCK executive Erin Gore complained.

“It’s unforgivable,” he emphasized.

For his part, the founder of the NGO, chef Jose Andres, said that “my heart is broken” and that he mourns for the families and friends of the dead.

“The Israeli government must stop the indiscriminate killings,” he stressed in a post on social media. “It must stop cutting humanitarian aid, stop killing civilians and aid workers, and stop using food as a weapon of war. May no more innocent lives be lost. Peace begins through our common humanity. It has to start now.”

WCK has announced that it is suspending operations in the areaand added that she will soon make decisions about her future moves.

The NGO provides food and prepares meals for people in need. In March, it announced that it had provided more than 42 million meals to the Gaza Strip over 175 days.

The White House said it was “devastated” by the deaths in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip of workers of the American NGO World Central Kitchen.

“We are devastated and deeply upset” about the strike, spokeswoman for the National Security Council of the American presidency, Adrienne Watson, said via X. “Aid workers must be protected” as they “distribute desperately needed aid” and “we urge Israel to immediately investigate” the incident, he added.