World Central Kitchen founder José Andrés has said he is “heartbroken and grieving” after several members of the food aid nonprofit’s staff were killed in what he described as an Israeli airstrike on Gaza.

The group announced Tuesday that it was pausing its operations in the region after seven individuals were killed as they left a warehouse in Gaza. World Central Kitchen said in a statement that the convoy they were traveling in had coordinated its movements with the Israeli military, which has said it is investigating the incident.

World Central Kitchen had partnered with Spanish group Open Arms to send two maritime aid shipments carrying hundreds of tons of aid to Gaza, amid international warnings about the imminent threat of famine in the enclave. The first shipment arrived in mid-March, while the second departed Cyprus on March 30.

Andrés built his name with cookbooks and restaurants including Jaleo and Minibar, but he has also become known for flying into disaster and conflict zones bearing food relief with the organization he co-founded.

Here’s what to know about Andrés and the organization that was bringing much-needed food to Gaza by sea.

Who is José Andrés?

The restaurateur was born in Spain and moved out of his parents’ home at 15, funding his independence with hospitality work. Culinary school, mentorship under a leading chef and a stint in the navy followed, before he landed in the United States at age 21. He had $50 to his name, he told the magazine of the National Endowment for the Humanities when the organization awarded him its medal in 2015.

He moved to the nation’s capital to lead the kitchen at new restaurant Jaleo in 1993, helping spark a tapas craze. From that base he launched more than 30 restaurants, mostly in the United States, with many of the best-known in Washington. He had his first James Beard Award by 2003.

He founded World Central Kitchen in 2010 and has long been outspoken on issues of hunger, childhood obesity, subsidies for agribusiness, the minimum wage and immigration reform.

In 2013, he became an American citizen. He is married to Patricia Fernandez de la Cruz, and the couple have three daughters.

When he was named one of the Time 100 most influential people in the world in 2018, fellow celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse wrote that Andrés was a “brilliant restaurateur who has shaped America’s culinary history and course by introducing his distinctive take on Spanish food and culture.”

What is World Central Kitchen?

Andrés and partners created World Central Kitchen after he went to help feed people in Haiti who had been devastated by a deadly earthquake.

The charity grew from there, responding to a need for food after hurricanes in Houston and Puerto Rico, and wildfires in the western United States and in Australia. Its workers cooked for refugees living in tents at the U.S.-Mexico border and those fleeing the war in Ukraine.

The group describes its mission as being “first to the frontlines, providing fresh meals in response to humanitarian, climate, and community crises.”

In 2021, Jeff Bezos, owner of The Washington Post, handed Andrés $100 million through his annual Courage and Civility Award.

The nonprofit has also faced criticism: Two Bloomberg investigations last year contained allegations that Andrés directed staff and contractors into unsafe situations, that the organization lacked sufficient safety, governance and accounting protocols to match its rapid growth, and that it did not adequately respond to a pattern of sexual harassment of a senior employee. The charity responded to Bloomberg that it had made leadership team changes and set up new safeguards.

What do we know about World Central Kitchen’s operations in Gaza?

World Central Kitchen sent an initial ship from Cyprus to northern Gaza bearing about 200 tons of food in March — the first aid ship that Israel had permitted to reach Gaza’s shores in about 18 years, according to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. It was to be inspected by Israeli authorities on the way, an organization spokeswoman told The Post. The territory’s north is beset by hunger, with increased reports of children dying of lack of food in recent weeks.

There is no port infrastructure in northern Gaza, but staff there constructed a jetty using rubble from bombarded buildings in preparation for the first ship’s arrival, Andrés told U.S. lawmakers in March. He also told The Post that the aid would be distributed via World Central Kitchen’s existing network in Gaza, which includes more than 60 kitchens and several warehouses, with more being built.

A second delivery involving three ships and a barge carrying “hundreds of tons of food and heavy machinery to expedite the offloading process” left Cyprus last week, with enough food to prepare more than 1 million meals, World Central Kitchen said. The organization said it has already provided more than 43 million meals by land, air, and sea.

World Central Kitchen said Tuesday that the seven people were killed in an Israeli airstrike as they traveled in a “deconflicted zone” in two armored cars branded with the organization’s logo, adding that their movements had been coordinated with the Israeli military. The team had been unloading “more than 100 tons of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza on the maritime route,” the statement added.

Daniel Hagari, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces, said the military was “reviewing the incident at the highest levels to understand the circumstances of what happened and how it happened.”

Israel controls Gaza’s coastline and two sides of its land border; Egypt controls the third. An approved maritime corridor was negotiated between Israel and the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Cyprus and other stakeholders in early March, and World Central Kitchen with Open Arms the first to use it.

The United States also announced plans in March to build a temporary pier and distribute 2 million meals per day to Gaza delivered by sea, but the Pentagon said it would take up to 60 days to construct.

Since Oct. 21, when Israel and Egypt partly lifted the total siege imposed on the enclave from Oct. 9, limited numbers of trucks with essential supplies have been allowed in through two land crossings. Relief groups’ ability to distribute the goods within the Strip has been restricted by the Israeli military as well as by looting.

The United States and other nations have also commenced airdrops of food and water, which aid professionals have described as a costly and ineffective way to deliver aid. Last week, local officials said at least 18 people were killed after some parachutes landed in the sea, with 12 drowning and six killed in stampedes.