Devex Dish: Why were 7 World Central Kitchen staffers killed in Gaza?

Celebrity chef José Andrés’ nonprofit World Central Kitchen was designed to be different from other humanitarian agencies. It describes itself as a “team of food first responders,” bringing chefs to the scene of natural disasters and conflict zones to cook food in massive paella pans and distribute it to tens of thousands of people.

“Feed everybody as quick as you can,” Andrés says in a WCK promotional video. “Don’t tell me you are waiting to do it until you have everything ready to do it. It has to be urgent.” The organization has dispatched teams and partnered with local restaurants in some of the world’s most urgent and difficult-to-reach crises: Ukraine, Gaza, Myanmar, Lebanon, and elsewhere. Over time it became known for bucking the bureaucracy that often slows down traditional humanitarian responses. 

But it was that focus on speed — often at the expense of safety — that many felt contributed  to the killings of seven WCK staffers in a three-car convoy in Gaza as they transferred food to a warehouse in April 2024, according to 14 former and current WCK staff members and contractors who spoke to my colleague Elissa Miolene. They described a workplace culture that prioritized risk-taking but where safety concerns were sometimes ignored, even when staffers raised warnings or requested more training or better safety protocols. Adding to all that was the “cult of personality” around Andrés — a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize and who this year received the United States’ Presidential Medal of Freedom — in which staff felt they must prioritize his directives above all else.

In the words of WCK’s former director of culinary operations, Elyssa Kaplan: “It wasn’t if someone was going to die, but when.”

Israel later admitted that its defense forces’ killing of the seven WCK staffers was a “grave mistake” that “should not have occurred.” In response to Elissa’s requests for comment, WCK maintained that it has safety protocols and training in place, and coordinates with local authorities in conducting its humanitarian operations. “Any suggestion that a lack of training or security protections contributed to the events of April 1 is both malicious and contrary to these undisputed facts,” writes WCK’s CEO Erin Gore.

Elissa’s story, meticulously reported over several months, lays out exactly how the WCK aid workers were killed — as well as the aftermath inside the organization as it halted Gaza operations and tried to restart them. The seven staffers’ deaths received international attention; lesser noticed was the Israel Defense Forces’ killing of three Palestinian WCK staffers eight months later whom Israel claimed participated in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel.

The story highlights the immense difficulties of delivering food and other humanitarian aid in conflict zones — especially when it comes to the safety and security of staff — in a world where aid is ever more politicized.

Read: What lay behind the deaths of 7 World Central Kitchen staff in Gaza

Background: How 7 deaths changed aid work in Gaza

Sowing chaos

Meanwhile in Washington, the only constant is change (a saying that, given my Greek background, I am obligated to tell you is attributed to the Greek philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus).  

Last week we reported on the Trump administration’s terminations of 42 more foreign aid programs. The World Food Programme alone saw cancellations across 14 countries totaling $804.4 million. But within days, the administration backtracked and asked for the terminations of six WFP awards to be rescinded in Ecuador, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Somalia, and Syria.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said some programs were accidentally cut and put back into place — and stressed that the United States’ “commitment to foreign aid remains.” However, she backed up the decision to cut assistance across Yemen and Afghanistan, explaining that it was a result of an executive order issued “based on concern that the funding was benefiting terrorist groups” such as the Houthis and the Taliban. Bruce referenced past cessations of food aid to those countries that were put in place to “mitigate influence” by either group. She also said that other awards “were terminated because they provided cash-based assistance, which the administration is moving away from, given concerns about misuse and lack of appropriate accountability for American taxpayers.”

But that’s not the end of the saga. The Trump administration has now proposed cutting State Department funding nearly in half and slashing foreign assistance by $21.5 billion, or 56%, according to an internal memo that Devex obtained. Numerous programs are on the chopping block, including Title II Food for Peace — a $2 billion flagship initiative to reduce hunger by exporting surplus U.S.-grown commodities worldwide that some Republicans in agricultural states are trying to save. The proposal accounts for USAID, once a $40 billion agency that employed more than 10,000 people, being subsumed by the State Department.

It’s unclear just how far the proposal will get. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s signature is required for the budget process to continue, after which the plan would need to be finalized by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget — then presented to Congress.

“Without American investments in development, we will witness preventable suffering on a massive scale alongside increased conflict and instability,” says Tom Hart, president and CEO of InterAction.

Finally, Peter Marocco, the man behind the gutting of USAID, has reportedly left the State Department, and it’s unclear why exactly. As of this week, Jeremy Lewin is now in the driver’s seat. A 28-year-old tech entrepreneur with no government experience prior to the second Trump administration, Lewin joined Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency and helped dismantle USAID — and last month became both the agency’s chief operating officer and deputy administrator for policy and programs. Lewin’s now been named the acting director of the State Department’s Office of Foreign Assistance.

Catch up on our latest U.S. foreign aid reporting:

• The Trump administration plans to cut State Department funding by half.

• The Trump administration admits lifesaving aid was accidentally cut.

• Trump official behind USAID’s dismantling exits the State Department.

• DOGE staffer takes over at the State Department’s office of foreign aid.

• Lawmakers oppose USAID merger, citing “unlawful” process.
• USAID's merger with the State Department — the pros, cons, and questions (Pro)

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A mouthful

At a council meeting of the Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, Italy, last week, the U.S. laid out its vision for an agency aligned with U.S. interests — meaning no diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives or climate change work.

“Instead of general references to climate change as a policy matter or root cause of threats, the United States maintains that FAO can be more effective if it helps farmers adapt to specific environmental threats – like land degradation, drought, and extreme heat — while advocating for sensible environmental protections such as increasing access to affordable, reliable and secure energy; enhancing resilience; and disaster planning,” Hunter said. He added that the U.S. no longer affirms the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals or agenda for achieving them by 2030, as “use of the SDGs to justify all manner of activities unrelated to development obscures the specificity necessary to overcome the globe’s toughest challenges, including tackling hunger.”

The United States is the largest contributor to FAO’s budget. In 2024, it gave FAO $317 million — about 14% of total FAO resources. However, that funding is now coming to an end. U.S. funding cuts have resulted in 106 terminated projects with a total value of $348 million, FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu said in his opening address last week. As a result, 358 FAO staffers have been let go, with about a total of 600 slated to be cut.

Read: UN food agency caught in Trump administration’s crosshairs

See also: Europe’s peace capital feels the sting of Trump funding cuts

And don’t miss: UN appeals fall flat in the face of Trump’s budget steamroller

Dollop of hope

Even as the Trump administration slashes federally funded scientific research worldwide, the inaugural Science Week hosted by global agricultural research network CGIAR featured a mix of scientific ambition and cautious optimism, writes my colleague Ayenat Mersie, who attended the gathering in Nairobi, Kenya.

It drew over 8,000 people in person and another 2,000 online, with representatives from 1,000 organizations and 100 countries. A key moment was the launch of CGIAR’s 2025–2030 research portfolio, which outlines the organization’s scientific direction over the next five years.

“We have very big ambitions in this portfolio,” Sandra Cristina Kothe Milach, CGIAR’s chief scientist, tells Ayenat. Among the goals are reducing the number of people at risk of hunger by 182 million, lifting 31 million out of extreme poverty, and increasing the proportion of women in agrifood jobs to 63%, up from 40% in 2021.

Read: At Science Week, CGIAR presents 2030 research portfolio

See also: Big ideas in Nairobi

Chew on this 

UNICEF expects its 2026 budget to drop by at least 20% from the $8.9 billion it had in 2024, following deep cuts to global humanitarian aid. [Reuters]

Relentless gang violence, economic collapse leave 1 in 2 Haitians in high levels of food insecurity. [Integrated Food Security Phase Classification]  

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is rebranding its $3.1 billion Partnership for Climate-Smart Commodities program as “Advancing Markets for Producers” and reviewing all grant agreements to align them with the Trump administration’s priorities. [DTN Progressive Farmer]

A document has revealed that the meat industry was behind attacks on the 2019 EAT-Lancet study on climate-friendly diets.[DeSmog]