The United Arab Emirates Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, spoke on the phone with José Andrés, the founder of the World Central Kitchen charity. According to a statement provided to media in the UAE, the Minister praised the work of the organization in delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza.
The conversation came a day after the IDF concluded an investigation into the killing of seven humanitarian aid workers of WCK on April 1.
“The IDF takes seriously the grave incident that claimed the lives of seven innocent humanitarian aid workers. We express our deep sorrow for the loss and send our condolences to the families and the WCK organization. We consider the vital humanitarian activity of international aid organizations to be of utmost importance, and we will continue to work to coordinate and assist their activities, while ensuring their safety and safeguarding their lives,” the IDF said.
The IDF has presented deep sorrow and other officials have said the same.
UAE paused humanitarian aid efforts
The UAE paused humanitarian aid efforts via the maritime corridor on April 2. The UAE had been supporting aid moving to Gaza from Cyprus and it was a key partner with WCK. WCK also paused aid after the incident.
A ship with 240 tonnes of food was supposed to be delivering aid to Gaza and it was being offloaded on April 1. A hundred tonnes had been offloaded to Gaza and the seven aid workers had been helping move it to a warehouse.
Their cars were struck in airstrikes in the evening of April 1. This leaves many questions about the future of aid moving to northern Gaza. Many countries have also backed airdrops to Gaza.
Israel opened the Erez crossing for the first time since the Hamas attack began on October 7. Now aid can also flow via Ashdod.
The UAE has been a key provider of aid in Gaza and has also established a field hospital in Gaza. It is one of half a dozen field hospitals in Gaza that countries are helping with in order to aid Gazans.
The UAE has also sent flights to Al-Arish in Egypt. The UAE was a key partner in the Abraham Accords of 2020. The killing of the aid workers calls into question how the UAE and WCK will proceed in Gaza and casts a shadow over the charity and the UAE’s attempt to help in northern Gaza.
“Sheikh Abdullah strongly condemned and denounced the Israeli targeting of a car carrying a team from the World Central Kitchen, expressing his deepest condolences and sincere sympathy to the president of the organisation, the families of the victims, and their countries,” the UAE’s Sharjah24 media said.
“He stressed the importance of protecting the lives of all civilians and that they should not be targets of the ongoing escalation in the region, affirming the UAE's full solidarity with the World Central Kitchen and its team.”
The UAE continues to express its appreciation for WCK’s important work. Northern Gaza was specifically mentioned. The statements appear to show that there is a renewed window of opportunity for the UAE and WCK and others to continue work in Gaza. The question is, in the wake of the killing of the seven humanitarians, how that will happen.
The opening of Erez is an important development in this regard. It remains to be seen how it will be managed and also how the US floating dock will be built off the coast of Gaza. It also remains to be seen if the aid destined for Gaza that had to be brought back to Cyprus, will now return via Ashdod.