How celebrity chef Jose Andres’ NGO staff are often first into disaster zones like Gaza to feed the needy

Jose Andres’ NGO World Central Kitchen (WCK) was operating in Gaza when one of its convoys was hit in an Israeli air strike, killing seven of its workers

WCK was set up to feed people in disaster zones as soon as possible, and Andres has received awards from US president Obama and US$100 million from Jeff Bezos

Reading Time:3 minutes

Jose Andres, who set up NGO World Central Kitchen to feed people in disaster zones as quickly as possible. Seven of its staff were killed this week in an Israeli air strike in Gaza. Photo: Getty Images for Concordia Summit

Published: 6:15pm, 3 Apr 2024

Celebrity chef Jose Andres’ disdain for red tape is one of the reasons why his food charity found itself coordinating the humanitarian effort in Gaza when seven of its workers were killed in an Israeli air strike.

The aid workers for World Central Kitchen (WCK) were killed when their convoy was hit shortly after overseeing the unloading of 100 tons (101 tonnes) of food brought to Gaza by sea.

Last month, WCK began moving food aid to starving people in northern Gaza via a maritime corridor from Cyprus, in collaboration with Spanish charity Open Arms.

This decision followed Israel’s refusal to allow the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) to deliver food to northern Gaza following claims that some agency staff had taken part in the attack on October 7 by members of the Palestinian militant group Hamas in southern Israel.

United Nations staff inspect the wreckage of a car used by US-based aid group World Central Kitchen that was hit by an Israeli strike in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. Photo: TNS

Oscar Camps, director of Open Arms, said the maritime route between Cyprus and Gaza had been open since December 20 but no organisation had used it.