Chef Jose Andres mourns World Central Kitchen workers killed in Gaza at Washington Cathedral [Video]

By Jeff Mason

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Celebrity Chef Jose Andres called seven aid workers killed by Israeli forces in Gaza “the best of humanity” on Thursday during a memorial service at the Washington National Cathedral that was attended by hundreds, and punctuated by grief and ongoing questions about the attack.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel mistakenly killed the seven people working for Andres’ charity World Central Kitchen (WCK) in an airstrike earlier this month, prompting worldwide condemnation and a demand by President Joe Biden to make it easier to get aid in to Gaza or risk a shift in U.S. support.

Andres told Reuters in an interview earlier this month that the Israeli attack targeted them “systematically, car by car.”

At Thursday’s service he praised each of the workers — Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha, John Chapman, Jacob Flickinger, Lalzawmi Frankcom, James Henderson, James Kirby, and Damian Sobol — during an emotional eulogy, his voice cracking repeatedly.

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