He is José Andrés, the Spanish chef who founded the NGO attacked by Israel in Gaza

ANDCelebrity chef José Andrés' rejection of bureaucracy is one of the reasons why his humanitarian organization, which provides food, was coordinating efforts in Gaza when seven of his workers were killed in an Israeli airstrike.

World Central Kitchen (WCK) volunteers killed in attack when his convoy was hit shortly after overseeing the unloading of 100 tons of food brought to Gaza by sea.

WCK started last month transporting food to the hungry population of northern Gaza through a maritime corridor from Cyprus, in collaboration with the Spanish humanitarian organization Open Arms.

The decision came after Israel refused to allow the UN Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA) to deliver food to northern Gaza, following allegations that some of the agency's staff had participated in the September 7 attack. of members of the Palestinian militant group Hamas against southern Israel.

Oscar Camps, director of Open Arms, said in an interview with Reuters that the sea route between Cyprus and Gaza had been open since December 20, but no organization had used it. They then built an improvised pier with rubble and unloaded the aid a few meters from the bombings, and knowing of Israel's warnings that it could not guarantee its security, said.

Andrés, originally from Spain and also an American, said on the social network

On March 26, he said that 67 WCK kitchens were operating in Gaza, feeding 350,000 people a day. Operations have been suspended following the Israeli airstrike against the humanitarian organization's convoy.

At the beginning of the conflict, the WCK had partnered with restaurants and hospitals in Israel to feed displaced or injured people for the October 7 attack, and in February began collaborating with aid airdrops in Gaza.

Origin in Haiti

Founded by Andrés in 2010, after traveling to Haiti to help after the earthquake which killed more than 300,000 people, WCK has quickly become one of the leading providers of emergency aid in scenarios of natural disasters or human conflicts.

The NGO describes itself as “first on the front line,” using an “enterprising and adaptable” approach to “leap and err in feeding people expeditiously.” instead of asking for permission or following systems and bureaucracy that lack urgency and flexibility.”

When others are evaluating the situation we are already feeding

“When others are evaluating the situation, we are already feeding, and in the process we learn what happens, not the other way around,” Andrés told the Spanish edition of Vanity Fair in a 2021 interview.

The humanitarian organization says that entered Ukraine five days after the Russian invasion February 2022 and established restaurants in five cities.

The chef behind the project

Born in 1969 in a mining region in the northern region of Asturias, Andrés worked as an apprentice in the experimental restaurant El Bulli by Ferrán Adriá, near Barcelona, ​​before moving to the United States in 1991, where he created the restaurant Jaleo tapas.

His company ThinkFoodGroup now owns more than 20 restaurants, one of them with two Michelin stars.

The chef has cultivated relationships with some of the most powerful people in the United States, receiving a donation of 100 million dollars of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in 2021 and establishing contacts with former United States President Barack Obama.

The Obama administration named him an “Outstanding American by Election” in 2014.an award given to naturalized citizens who have made extraordinary achievements, and was also awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2015.

His relationship with Obama's successor, Donald Trump, was less cordial.

The two reached a settlement in 2017 after Trump sued Andrés for breach of contract when the Spaniard canceled plans for a restaurant at Trump's Washington hotelfollowing comments that the then
presidential candidate made about Mexicans, whom he called “rapists” and “murderers.”

La Nación (Argentina)/GDA