WCK says Palestinian Arab staff member was killed in Gaza

The World Central Kitchen (WCK), a US-based, non-governmental organization, said on Wednesday that a Palestinian Arab member of its staff was killed in Gaza.

“One of our Palestinian colleagues, Nadi Sallout, was killed tonight near Deir al-Balah, Gaza. He was an integral member of our warehouse team from the early days of our response in Rafah and a humanitarian at his very core,” the organization said in a post on X.

“We are still learning the details of this tragedy, but believe he was off duty at the time. Our thoughts and support are with Nadi's family and the rest of our dedicated team around the world as we mourn this tremendous loss. We will update our website as we learn more,” it added.

This past April, seven WCK aid workers were killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza. IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said after the strike that it was a case of misidentification and the strikes were not meant to harm WCK workers.

The IDF later dismissed two officers and formally reprimanded senior commanders after an inquiry into the incident.

As a result of the fatal air strike, WCK temporarily halted its food distributions in Gaza, but resumed those distributions about a month later.

Australia, whose citizen was among the seven WCK workers killed in the strike, conducted its own probe of the strike, and last week blamed "serious failures to follow procedures" by IDF personnel for the April incident.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong called the incident "inexcusable" and stated that the government would demand full accountability.

"This was not a one-off incident. The UN reports that more than 250 aid workers have been killed since the start of the conflict, and in recent weeks, a number of UN vehicles have come under attack," Wong claimed.