Strikes on humanitarian personnel don’t “just happen – Says Trudeau

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that attacks on aid workers are not just happening during war. He criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for defending a deadly airstrike in central Gaza on April 1st.

33-year-old Jacob Flickinger, a former member of the Canadian Army, was one of the people who died while helping to deliver food for World Central Kitchen.

Netanyahu said on Wednesday that the explosions were a very sad accident that will be looked into, but they also happened because of fighting.

“This occurs during a war,” Netanyahu said.

During a press conference in Winnipeg, Trudeau said he strongly disagreed with those statements.

“No, it isn’t just something that happens,” Trudeau said. “And it shouldn’t only happen when aid workers from groups like World Central Kitchen risk their lives every day in a very dangerous place to deliver food to people in a terrible humanitarian crisis. ”

World Central Kitchen wants a thorough investigation to find out what happened to its workers who were killed in the attack.

They were in a convoy that was clearly labeled as help. They had just delivered 100 tons of food to a storage place in the middle of Gaza when they were hit.

The attack also killed Lalzawmi (Zomi) Frankcom, who was 43 years old and from Australia. Polish national Damian Sobol, who was 35, and Palestinian Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha, who was 25, were also killed. Additionally, British citizens John Chapman, who was 57, James Henderson, who was 33, and James Kirby, who was 47, lost their lives in the attack.

Trudeau said we need a thorough and fast investigation that is open and fair.

He said it is very important to have a ceasefire and a lot of help for people in need.

“We need to send more help to Gaza and protect the people and aid workers there,” he said.

“That’s why we need to stop the fighting and help the people who are suffering. ” We want Hamas to stop fighting and put down their weapons. “We want the hostages to be let go and we want the fighting to stop so this terrible situation can be over soon. ”

Countries around the world are angry and quick to respond to the deadly airstrikes in Israel. Israel was already getting criticized for the impact of its war in Gaza. Over 33,000 Palestinians have died and more than 75,600 have been injured, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas.

The President of the United States, Joe Biden, talked to Netanyahu on the phone for 45 minutes on Thursday. He said that the US will only support Israel’s war if they take new actions to keep civilians and aid workers safe.

“He emphasized that Israel needs to make public and put into action certain clear, specific and measurable actions to reduce harm to civilians, lessen humanitarian suffering, and ensure the safety of aid workers,” the White House said in a statement.

“He said that the US will make decisions about its policy on Gaza based on what Israel does next. ”

The US has been a big supporter of Israel and this week they said it was okay to give Israel more bombs.

Joe Biden is getting more and more upset because Israel is not letting much help get to the area and many innocent people are dying.

Jose Andres, who started World Central Kitchen, is friends with the Bidens and used to cook meals at the White House when Barack Obama was president.

Andres says that Israel is wrong to say the attack was by accident. He says the charity told Israel when and where the aid workers would be going.

He said Israel can protect itself, but should not harm innocent people.

Jonathan Duguay, a good friend of Flickinger who was working in Cyprus for World Central Kitchen during the attack, said in an interview with The Canadian Press that Flickinger wasn’t scared. This is because the aid deliveries were planned together with help from Israel.

“We made a deal with the IDF,” said Duguay. “There was a special path. “They knew our location. ”

Flickinger started working with World Central Kitchen last year to help him with the stress and difficulties he experienced after serving in Afghanistan. He and his partner, Sandy Leclerc, had just moved to Costa Rica with their 18-month-old son.

An online fundraiser was set up to help pay for his funeral and to save money for his son. So far, it has raised almost $156,000, which is more than the family was hoping for.

Israeli military leader Herzi Halevi said on Wednesday that he got a first report about the attack and said that the aid workers were not targeted on purpose.

“I want to make it clear – the strike was not meant to hurt WCK aid workers. ” It was a mistake because someone didn’t recognize something correctly at night during a war in very difficult conditions. “It should not have happened. ”

Halevi said World Central Kitchen does important work in tough situations and said Israel is “taking quick action to make sure that more is done to keep humanitarian aid workers safe. ”

“This was a serious mistake,” Halevi said in a TV speech in Israel.

Israel is fighting with Hamas, but not with the people of Gaza. We apologize for accidentally hurting the members of WCK. We feel sad for the families and the World Central Kitchen organization.