A Canadian man, along with six other aid workers, was killed on Monday in the Gaza Strip. Gaza He was from Quebec and had military experience. He is survived by a partner and a one-year-old son.
Jacob Flickinger, 33, became part of the World Central Kitchen aid organization last fall and had been helping in Gaza since early March. Jacob Flickinger joined the World Central Kitchen aid organization last fall. He had been assisting the group in Gaza since early March after being encouraged by his friend Jonathan Duguay.
Jonathan Duguay, a close friend of Jacob Flickinger, described him as a great person and mentioned that they had served together in Afghanistan in 2010.
Jonathan Duguay, in an interview, praised Jacob Flickinger, highlighting his supportive and positive nature.
Jonathan Duguay, who joined World Central Kitchen in September, convinced Jacob Flickinger to join the organization in November.
Their first aid mission was in Mexico, providing food after a devastating hurricane.
Both Jacob Flickinger and Jonathan Duguay were diagnosed with PTSD after their service in Afghanistan. Working with World Central Kitchen changed their lives.
In March, they travelled to the Middle East, where World Central Kitchen planned major expansions, including providing aid to Gaza by sea for the first time in over two decades.
Since Israel had strict rules on aid by truck, World Central Kitchen built a makeshift jetty in northern Gaza to unload food from boats onto waiting trucks.
A shipment of about 200 tonnes of food was sent on March 15, and another, twice the size, left Cyprus on Saturday. Jacob Flickinger was part of the team in Gaza.
Jacob Flickinger and Jonathan Duguay communicated multiple times a day, and their last conversation on March 31 was about ordinary things and the shipment.
According to Jonathan Duguay, Jacob Flickinger was not afraid and just wanted to assist people.
On April 2, Jonathan Duguay was informed by an aid worker from Gaza that seven colleagues had been killed in an "incident" at a warehouse in central Gaza.
Jacob Flickinger was known to be at the scene.
The Israeli airstrikes hit the convoy as it was leaving the warehouse after delivering food. The Israeli government said it was a tragic mistake.
Jonathan Duguay stated that the teams felt secure as the Israeli Defense Force had been briefed about the plan and provided security for the construction of the jetty.
According to Jonathan Duguay, there was an understanding with the IDF, and they had a designated route, with the IDF being aware of their location.
Jonathan Duguay had to break the tragic news to Sandy, Jacob Flickinger's partner, who was in Costa Rica with their baby.
Sandy and Jacob Flickinger met almost five years ago in Quebec, where he grew up. Jacob Flickinger is a dual Canadian and American citizen.
Duguay said that he immediately fell in love.
Duguay was supposed to leave Cyprus on April 4 and Flickinger was scheduled to leave shortly after. Instead, Duguay flew to Montreal on Tuesday before he heads to Costa Rica to join Sandy and her father.
The Canadian Armed Forces stated on Wednesday that Flickinger served from 2008 until 2019. He joined as a reserve infantry member with Le Regiment de la Chaudière and was sent to Afghanistan as a rifleman.
He became part of the regular force as infantry with Quebec’s renowned Royal 22e Regiment, known as the Van Doos, in 2012. He was a master corporal when he retired from the army in 2019.
Flickinger’s father, John, expressed in a Facebook post that his son’s death is a “heartbreaking tragedy.”
“My son, Jacob, was killed Monday delivering food aid to starving families in Gaza,” John Flickinger wrote. “He died doing what he loved and serving others through his work with the World Central Kitchen.”
A Go Fund Me page has been initiated to raise funds for a funeral and a trust fund for Flickinger’s son. Nearly $30,000 had already been raised by Wednesday evening.
Also killed in Monday’s airstrike were Lalzawmi (Zomi) Frankcom, 43, from Australia, who shared a video less than a week before she died working at the warehouse near where the convoy was hit.
Polish national Damian Sobol, 35, began volunteering for aid groups when his hometown of Przemysl became a haven for refugees fleeing Russia’s bombing in Ukraine.
Palestinian Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha, 25, was working for the charity as a driver.
Three British military veterans were also killed, all providing security to the team, including John Chapman, 57, James Henderson, 33, and James Kirby, 47.
Duguay said he knew both Frankcom and Sobol as well.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described their deaths as inadvertent — something that “occurs in war,” he said.
Canada is demanding a more detailed explanation. So are Poland, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States.
“The world needs very clear answers as to how this happened,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, who is in Belgium attending a NATO foreign ministers meeting, said she spoke to Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz on Tuesday night.
“We’re calling for a full investigation,” she said.
On social media, Katz offered condolences to the families of the victims, as well as to their respective countries.
“The incident will be investigated by qualified authorities to ensure that necessary conclusions are drawn to guarantee the safety and security of aid workers going forward,” he said.
In an essay published on Wednesday in the New York Times, World Central Kitchen founder José Andrés pleaded with Israel to start the “long journey to peace.”
“We know Israelis. Israelis, in their heart of hearts, know that food is not a weapon of war,” said Andrés, a celebrity chef from Spain.
“Israel is better than the way this war is being waged. It is better than blocking food and medicine to civilians. It is better than killing aid workers who had coordinated their movements with the Israel Defense Forces.”
Andrés stated that his seven colleagues' deaths are directly caused by Israeli policy, which has severely limited humanitarian aid.
Duguay mentioned that he intends to assist the family with funeral arrangements, but emphasized that the tragedy would not deter him from going back to his job at World Central Kitchen. He stated that this is not what Jacob would have wanted.
Duguay expressed, “We have a positive impact on people. We must continue providing food to people. That is my primary goal. It was also Jacob’s primary goal. He was a close comrade. We were friends. I will miss him.”
