A World Central Kitchen humanitarian convoy delivering food assistance to Gaza was struck by Israeli military forces during the evening of 1 April 2024, resulting in the deaths of aid workers. The incident occurred after a second major sea shipment of provisions had been successfully offloaded at a makeshift jetty on Gaza’s coast, representing a critical supply effort during a period of widespread food scarcity.
The convoy’s movement from the delivery point to a WCK warehouse 6 miles south had been pre-coordinated with Israeli military authorities. However, the operation encountered delays in receiving security clearance, and by the time the vehicles began traveling, darkness had fallen. The convoy was observed by Israeli drones assigned to the Nahal brigade, which had not been fully informed of the aid mission’s planned route and itinerary despite coordination having occurred at higher command levels. According to investigation findings, key operational details about the pre-coordinated mission had not been transmitted from Southern Command to the brigade and drone operators.
During the journey, the convoy was accompanied by local security personnel, including armed individuals. Israeli forces monitoring the convoy via drone footage interpreted this security arrangement as evidence of a Hamas seizure of the vehicles. Military assessments concluded the convoy had been hijacked based partly on assumptions about the prevalence of such incidents. These determinations were made despite World Central Kitchen maintaining contact with the convoy throughout the operation and communicating to Israeli forces that the vehicles had not been taken.
The convoy successfully reached its intended destination, the WCK warehouse in Deir al-Balah, where humanitarian goods were unloaded as planned. The fact that the shipment arrived at its designated location intact provided evidence contradicting the hijacking assessment. Following the unloading, aid workers and local personnel remained outside their vehicles briefly before the Israeli military initiated strikes. A military prosecutor subsequently declined to pursue criminal proceedings related to the incident, though an independent assessment commissioned by the Australian government attributed the outcome to communication failures between Israeli military coordination offices and field units.
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