World Central Kitchen fires 62 employees over Gazan terror ties
Israel discovered dozens of workers for the humanitarian organization were connected to Hamas and other terrorist groups, with some even participating in the October 7 attack
At least 62 Palestinian World Central Kitchen workers in the Gaza Strip were fired, according to a report in Reuters on Tuesday.
The US-based organization received documentation proving these employees were linked to Hamas or other terrorist groups in Gaza. Some of them even participated in the October 7 massacre.
In a statement, the World Kitchen Organization confirmed that it "made changes" in the organization after Israel demanded to investigate its recruitment procedures in Gaza.
"This should not be taken as a conclusion by WCK that the individuals are affiliated with any terror organization," the group said. "Prior to receiving the results of the COGAT security check, we had no reason for concern regarding any of these individuals and, because Israel does not share intelligence with aid organizations, we do not know the basis for Israel’s decision to flag these individuals. However, we felt this step was necessary to protect our team and operations."
An Israeli security official told Reuters that Israel demanded to investigate workers who were connected to the October 7 massacre.
According to the source, one of the workers, a terrorist named Hazmi Kadih, certainly participated in the massacre and was killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza on November 30. The kitchen claimed that it did not know that Kadih was involved in the events of October 7. After the terrorist's death, a security investigation began on the organization, revealing that 62 of the workers participated in the massacre.