A US-based charity, the World Central Kitchen, fired dozens of Palestinians working for the charity in the Gaza Strip, at least three workers told Reuters after Israel said at least 62 staff were linked to terror groups.
In a message to staff, WCK confirmed that it had “made changes” after Israel demanded an investigation into its hiring practices in Gaza.
“This should not be taken as a conclusion by WCK that the individuals are affiliated with any terror organization,” it said, adding that Israel had not shared its intelligence and “we do not know the basis for Israel’s decision to flag these individuals.”
It said it had taken the step “to protect our team and our operations.” A WCK spokesperson confirmed that 62 people had been let go.
An Israeli security official told Reuters that Israel had demanded an investigation into staff potentially linked to the Hamas-led massacre on southern on October 7, 2023, after it said a WCK employee identified as Ahed Azmi Qdeih took part in the onslaught, in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.
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Qdeih was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza on November 30. WCK confirmed the airstrike at the time and said it had no knowledge about an employee involved in last year’s brutal assault.
A man checks a car hit by an Israeli strike in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on November 30, 2024, which killed Ahed Azmi Qdeih, a World Central Kitchen worker accused by Israel of taking part in the Hamas-led massacre on October 7, 2023. (BASHAR TALEB / AFP/File)
The official said an Israeli security review found that 62 WCK employees had “affiliations and direct connections” with terror groups.
“Consequently, senior Israeli officials demanded that WCK terminate the employment of those workers,” he said.
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The Israeli allegations against WCK staff echo similar accusations against staff working for the main United Nations Palestinian relief body, UNRWA. In August, the United Nations said nine UNRWA staff members may have been involved in the October 7 massacre and had been fired.
Israel has alleged that 10 percent of the UN agency’s staff in Gaza have ties to terror groups — a charge of which the agency says it has no evidence.
Two WCK workers, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of security concerns, said they had been informed the termination was based on an Israeli assessment of the workers and came for “security reasons,” a term usually used to indicate links with Palestinian terror groups.
“They told me and others that Israel rejected us for security reasons. It is a joke,” one worker told Reuters, asking not to be named for fear of Israeli reprisals.