MADRID (Reuters) -Israel must clarify the circumstances surrounding the deaths of seven people working for Spanish-American celebrity chef Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen in an Israeli airstrike in central Gaza, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Tuesday.
“I hope and demand that the Israeli government clarifies as soon as possible the circumstances of this brutal attack that has taken the lives of seven aid workers who were doing nothing more than helping,” Sanchez said after visiting the Jabal el-Hussein camp for Palestinian refugees in Amman.
The killed workers were travelling in two armoured WCK cars when the convoy was hit on Monday as it was leaving a warehouse after unloading more than 100 tons of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza by sea, WCK said.
“It is urgent that Israel allow access to humanitarian aid in Gaza, as demanded by various international bodies, including the International Court of Justice,” Sanchez added, noting that the ICJ’s rulings were binding.
Speaking before Sanchez’s trip, a Spanish government source praised the efforts of Spanish charities using a maritime corridor to bring aid to Gaza, but said the corridor was not enough and it was pushing for safe land corridors to be opened too.
Earlier on Tuesday, Sanchez said on social messaging platform X he was “horrified” by the deaths of the WCK workers and described their “solidarity, altruism and commitment to those in need” as a source of pride for the Spanish government.
Sanchez is visiting Jordan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to discuss the conflict in Gaza and business partnerships in the region.
On Monday, Sanchez told reporters accompanying him on the tour that Madrid would recognise Palestinian statehood by July.
(Reporting by David Latona, Emma Pinedo and Aislinn Laing; Editing by Andrei Khalip and Christina Fincher)
