World Central Kitchen announced on Wednesday that one of its Palestinian team members was killed in Gaza, nearly four months after an Israeli airstrike killed seven of its employees.
The nonprofit group, founded by celebrity chef José Andrés, said Nadi Salout was killed on Wednesday in the Gaza Strip’s Deir al-Balah neighborhood. It described Salout as “a key member of the warehouse team from the early stages of the response in Rafah and a committed humanitarian.”
World Central Kitchen said the incident is still under investigation but they believe he was off duty at the time.
“Our thoughts and support are with Nadi’s family and dedicated teams around the world as they mourn this great loss. We will update our website as more information becomes available,” World Central Kitchen said in a statement. Social media platform X.
World Central Kitchen announced it would resume operations in Gaza just weeks after seven of its employees were killed in an Israeli airstrike on April 1. At the time, the organization called for an independent investigation into the attack that killed its workers.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepted responsibility for the unintentional attack at the time, but the incident sparked global outrage.
In an update posted last week, World Central Kitchen said the situation in Gaza “continues to deteriorate.” The organization said many of its kitchens in the region have been forced to stop cooking and others have had assistance cut off.
“The area near our kitchens has been in the focus of Israeli military operations, which has resulted in the inability to supply critical ingredients and equipment to several community kitchens supported by WCK,” the organization said. It was mentioned in the update July 30th.
