Chef José Andrés is pushing back on criticism surrounding the humanitarian airdrops into Gaza, arguing food must be delivered there in “any way” it can be.
Andrés, the founder of World Central Kitchen, responded to a recent statement from Oxfam International stating they do not support U.S. airdrops in Gaza, where Andrés’s organization has been sending food. Oxfam International said the airdrops “would mostly serve to relieve the guilty consciences of senior U.S. officials whose policies are contributing to the ongoing atrocities and the risk of famine in Gaza.”
“Yeah, this is probably written by somebody that doesn't have — who has a lot of time on his hands. Listen, we need to bring food into Gaza any way we can,” Andrés said on ABC’s “This Week.”
“We should be bringing it by the sea, maritime. We should be putting boats in front of Gaza. I hope it's going to happen soon, where we can be bringing hundreds of thousands, if not millions of meals,” he added.
Andrés said that bringing aid by tricks is not safe enough in Gaza. This comes days after more than 100 Palestinians in Gaza City were killed as they were reportedly trying to get humanitarian aid from trucks.
“Why are we doing the air? Why are people doing, thinking about coming by — by the sea? Because the political situation is not allowing [us] to bring safely enough trucks. Therefore, we need to be bold. I don't think we need to be criticizing that Jordan [and] America are doing airdrops. If anything, we should be applauding any initiative that brings food into Gaza,” Andrés said.
The U.S. started its humanitarian airdrops in Gaza on Saturday morning. The 66 bundles dropped contained about 38,000 meals, two officials told The Associated Press.
Democrats nominated Andrés and the World Central Kitchen for the Nobel Peace Prize earlier this year, citing his “effort to provide 40 million meals to feed the hungry across the world” through his nongovernmental organization.