Lots of people in Gaza are worried about how they’ll feed their families now that World Central Kitchen (WCK) has stopped helping. This happened after seven WCK workers were killed in an Israeli air strike.

Another charity from the US, Anera, has also stopped its work because it’s getting too dangerous for its local staff and their families. Together, these charities were providing two million meals every week in Palestine. The UN has warned that about 1.1 million people, which is half of the population, are facing really bad hunger because of Israeli rules on delivering aid, the ongoing fighting, and the chaos.

When WCK decided to stop their work, it also meant that a special way to bring aid from Cyprus by sea was put on hold. This way was set up by the charity just last month to help get more aid into the northern part of Gaza and stop a big hunger crisis.

The WCK group got hit on Monday night while they were driving south along the path that Israel says is okay for bringing aid by sea. This happened just after they had unloaded more than 100 tones of food from a boat at a warehouse in Deir al-Balah.

After the attack, the barge, which was part of a group of four ships, went back to Cyprus carrying 240 tonnes of supplies that couldn’t be delivered to Gaza.

The Norwegian Refugee Council said that what happened to World Central Kitchen is a big danger to the whole system of giving aid. They said it’s in a really bad situation now.

WCK said the Israeli military purposely attacked vehicles that had the charity’s logo on them. These vehicles had been given permission to move by Israeli authorities. The people who got hurt were from different countries like Britain, Poland, Australia, and Palestine. There was also someone who was a citizen of both the US and Canada.

The head of the military, Lt Gen Herzi Halevi, called the attack a “serious mistake.” He said they made a wrong identification during the night.

The Israeli military leader promised to act immediately to protect aid workers better. He said they would set up a new center to coordinate humanitarian efforts. He emphasized that Israel’s conflict is with Hamas, not the people of Gaza.

However, aid organizations doubt if these promises will make a real difference. They point out that this incident isn’t isolated, with 196 Palestinian aid workers reportedly killed since the beginning of the conflict.

Jan Egeland, who heads the Norwegian Refugee Council and was once in charge of humanitarian efforts at the UN, told the BBC that World Central Kitchen (WCK) had a strong collaboration with the Israelis. They shared information about where their workers were and what they were planning to do.

Before the attack, WCK was becoming increasingly important in Gaza. They had 400 Palestinian staff and another 3,000 people indirectly involved in their 68 community kitchens and distribution network across the area.

According to data from Cogat, which is responsible for coordinating aid deliveries, WCK contributed 12% of the 193,000 tonnes of aid that reached Gaza by Tuesday. However, the majority, 80%, came from UN agencies.José Andrés, the founder of WCK, told Reuters on Wednesday that they are looking into the situation and figuring out how to continue their work.

Anera, which was teaming up with WCK to provide 150,000 meals every day, said it knows stopping their work will affect Palestinians, but their Palestinian staff decided the risk to their safety and their families was too high.

They shared that their logistics coordinator and his son were killed in an Israeli air strike in Deir al-Balah in March, even though they had given the Israeli military the exact location of the shelter where they were staying.

“We’ve asked why that place was hit, but we haven’t gotten any answers,” said Derek Madsen from Anera. “These locations are known, so it’s hard for us to understand why these attacks happen.”

Mr. Egeland warned that for the people of Gaza, WCK’s halt in operations will lead to more hunger, more children dying, and more diseases spreading because people are not getting enough food.

According to the World Health Organization, at least 27 children have died from malnutrition since October.

Mr. Egeland called on Israel to begin by opening the Karni and Erez border crossings with northern Gaza so that aid convoys can reach there directly.

Right now, most aid convoys have to go through the Kerem Shalom crossing controlled by Israel or the Rafah crossing controlled by Egypt to reach the southern part of Gaza. Then they have to pass through what the UN calls “high-risk areas,” mainly because of shooting, shelling, or the breakdown of law and order.

According to Cogat, Israeli forces have arranged for more than 500 trucks to enter the northern part of Gaza over the past two months using those routes. They’ve also opened a new gate and military road that runs south of Gaza City.

Israel has also helped with the maritime corridor set up by WCK, which is currently suspended, as well as aid airdrops by Western and Arab countries. While these efforts are helpful, the UN says they can’t fully replace the large-scale delivery of aid by land.

The first WCK aid ship carried 200 tonnes of aid and took several days to reach Gaza. In comparison, a truck can carry about 20 tonnes, and the nearest Israeli container port is only a 40km drive from northern Gaza.

A C-130 transport plane can carry a maximum of 21 tonnes, but only about 40 airdrops have happened so far. They’re considered expensive, not very effective, and risky for people on the ground.

The UN says that on average, 159 truckloads of aid entered Gaza by land each day between March 1 and 28. Before the conflict, there were about 500 truckloads of aid, including fuel, each day.

Cogat argues that the pre-war average only included 70 food trucks, and that 140 entered each day during March. They say there’s no limit to the amount of food and humanitarian aid that can enter Gaza and accuse UN agencies of not distributing aid effectively.

After the strike on the WCK convoy, there wasn’t a noticeable decrease in aid entering Gaza. According to Cogat, 217 trucks were transferred via Israel and Egypt on Wednesday, and 179 food packages were airdropped.

However, Nate Mook, the former CEO of WCK, warned that the consequences could be severe for Gazans in the long term because more aid organizations might pull out.

Aseel Baidoun from Medical Aid for Palestinians said they didn’t stop their operations after a strike in January, but now they’re scared because of the security situation.

Natalia Anguera from Action Against Hunger said they’ll try to keep working despite the increasingly difficult conditions. Most of their staff are Palestinians who are also facing hardships, but they’re committed to their mission of helping others. They want to keep delivering aid.

She emphasized that it’s crucial for the international community to urge for a humanitarian ceasefire. This is the only way aid organizations can expand their response to meet the urgent needs.

Mr. Egeland highlighted the significance of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), saying it’s larger than all other aid organizations combined. However, he mentioned that UNRWA is facing challenges because of actions by Israel that undermine its work.UNRWA demanded that Israel completely change its policies in response to Monday’s strike. This includes lifting the ban on delivering aid to northern Gaza.

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