UAE Pauses Gaza Aid Route Support after Israel Kills Workers

The announcement comes after seven humanitarian workers with the nonprofit World Central Kitchen (WCK) were killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza on Monday. The UAE is the main funder of the organization's aid route that has been leading efforts to get food by sea to Gaza, which the United Nations has warned is on the verge of famine.

On Monday, seven staff members of chef José Andrés' WCK were killed by an Israeli air strike on an aid convoy as it delivered supplies from the landing area on the Gaza coast to a warehouse in the town of Dier al-Balah in the center of the enclave.

The convoy was hit as it was leaving the Deir al-Balah warehouse, where the team had unloaded more than 100 tons of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza on the maritime route," World Central Kitchen CEO Erin Gore said in a statement early Tuesday morning.

The sources close to the UAE government told Axios the UAE is pausing its humanitarian efforts via the maritime corridor pending a full investigation and assurances from Israel regarding the safety of humanitarian workers.

The UAE foreign ministry condemned the Israeli strike on the WCK convoy.