A ‘war against humanity itself’: José Andrés still reeling from Israeli attack that killed his workers

Chef José Andrés described Israel’s siege of Gaza as a “war against humanity itself,” days after the Israeli attack that killed seven workers from World Central Kitchen, Andrés’ aid organization that provides meals to civilians suffering from hunger due to conflicts.

“This doesn't seem [to be] a war against terror. This doesn't seem anymore [to be] a war about defending Israel. The Israelis at this point seem it's a war against humanity itself,” Andrés said during an interview on ABC’s “This Week,” that aired Sunday.

The Monday attack sparked widespread international anger, including from President Joe Biden who said he was “outraged and heartbroken” by the killings, and later warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that U.S. policy toward its main ally in the Middle East hinges on a swift response from Israeli forces in the region to ease the humanitarian crisis. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby declined to say what specific changes the U.S. could implement during an interview Sunday.

"I don't want to get ahead of the president," Kirby said following Andrés' appearance on ABC. "We need to see change over time."

An internal probe from the IDF published Friday revealed significant errors and protocol violations that led to multiple strikes on an aid convoy. According to Israel's military, “those who approved the strike were convinced that they were targeting armed Hamas operatives and not WCK employees.”

But Andrés questioned the results of the investigation, and called for deeper, independent inquiries into the incident.

“I would say that the perpetrator cannot be investigating himself," Andrés said during the ABC interview.

"But I would say we need more information. We need to see better quality videos. We need to be saying what [were] the conversations, the radio conversation between the different officers and soldiers in charge of saying that those cars were a target because they were an imminent threat."

Andrés also disputed Israel’s claims that officers could not see the WCK logos on the convoy because it was night.

“I would like to see high quality of the video, high quality of the images. I'm very sure that probably those logos were visible,” he told ABC’s Martha Raddatz. It was “obvious” he later added, that the WCK convoy was deliberately attacked, given that the group had been coordinating its movements with the IDF and that separate, subsequent strikes were approved as the workers attempted to move from one vehicle to the next to get to safety.

The U.S. is still weighing the results of the Israeli probe, Kirby said, but "we haven't come to any conclusions one way or another."

Andrés, whose humanitarian organization also operates in Ukraine, likened Netanyahu’s attacks on Gaza to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.

“It is unforgivable. I will have to live with this the rest of my life. We all will have to live with this the rest of our lives,” Andrés said. “I've seen firsthand what has been happening in Ukraine. Entire towns and cities being wiped out by Russia and by Putin. But Prime Minister Netanyahu is doing this exactly the same.”