Chris Wallace Condemns World Central Kitchen Deaths Amid Israel-Hamas War

Chris Wallace took a moment on CNN‘s The Chris Wallace Show on Saturday morning to condemn the deaths of World Central Kitchen aid workers amid the Israel–Hamas war.

Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha, John Chapman, Jacob Flickinger, Zomi Frankcom, James Henderson, James Kirby and Damian Soból were killed by Israeli airstrikes on April 1. Officials in Israel later explained that a “misidentification” led to the deadly attack on their convoy.

During his “Tell Me Why I’m Wrong” segment, Wallace stated that he had a personal connection to the aid organization because his daughter previously served as one of its workers.

“For six months, we’ve witnessed the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the IDF striking back at Hamas after it killed more than 1,000 Israelis in that savage attack on Oct. 7,” he said. “For some, that’s the collateral damage of war. For others, it’s a slaughter that violates every rule of humanity.”

Wallace proceeded to show a clip of World Central Kitchen founder José Andrés, saying, “Humanitarians and civilians should never be paying the consequences of war. This is a basic principle of humanity. At the time this looks like it’s not a war against terrorism anymore, it seems it’s a war against humanity itself.”

The CNN anchor added, “Now let me be clear. The deaths of seven aid workers are no more tragic than the deaths of thousands of innocent Palestinian men, women, and children, but for me this is personal.”

“I’ve known José for years. A world-famous chef, he’s made it his mission to feed people in need as an act of love,” Wallace continued as a photo of several smiling aid workers, including his daughter and Soból, displayed on the screen. “Two years ago, my daughter Catherine volunteered at World Central Kitchen to help feed Ukrainian refugees who fled to Poland — she’s the woman on the far right. And that man in the center, Damian Soból — who Catherine says, was incredibly kind — he is one of the seven World Central Kitchen workers who was killed this week.”

He concluded, “Now I’m no military expert, and I know Hamas is hiding in a civilian population, but there’s got to be some way Israel can fight this war without killing so many innocents, without killing people like Damian. Sometime over these six months, continuing to fight this war, this way, became unacceptable.”

The group of World Central Kitchen workers killed in the attack included three British citizens, a Polish citizen, an Australian and a Canadian-American dual citizen, according to the Associated Press.

In a statement earlier this week, President Joe Biden expressed outrage over the strikes, saying Israel “has not done enough to protect aid workers trying to deliver desperately needed help to civilians.”