Jacob Flickinger (33) was killed while giving food to children in Gaza

The short version

• Canadian-American Jacob Flickinger (33) killed in attack on convoy delivering emergency aid in Gaza
• Seven aid workers from the organization World Central Kitchen lost their lives on 1 April
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted the attack was accidental and promised an investigation
• The parents demand an independent investigation and that the US take more responsibility
• The attack led to the withdrawal of several organizations, which worsens the situation for the people of Gaza

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– They shot at the cars, one by one, while the aid workers tried to escape. The Israeli forces did not surrender until all seven had been killed, says his father John Flickinger to VG.

He is devastated by the loss of his son. And angry.

– My son’s vocation was to help others. But he was also a devoted family man. He was looking forward to coming home to his wife and 18-month-old son. Instead, he was chased down and killed by Israeli soldiers while trying to help the needy. Now the madness and people’s suffering in Gaza must stop.

On 1 April, seven aid workers from the organization World Central Kitchen (WCK) were killed while distributing food in Gaza. Canadian-American Jacob Flickinger (33) was one of them.

On Friday, he was beheaded. Now the father tells VG about the loss of his son.

Killed one by one

Jacob had helped unload 100 tons of food into a warehouse, ready meals and dates, welcome supplies transported by sea from Cyprus to reach the crisis-stricken population of the Gaza Strip.

Just before midnight, he got into one of three cars that drove in a column along the Al-Rashid coastal road.

The first car was hit by a missile fired from a drone one and a half kilometers from the warehouse, according to Al Jazeera. A short time later, a missile is said to have hit the other car, according to military sources the newspaper Haaretz has spoken to.

As injured passengers tried to get into the third car in the convoy, a third missile was fired.

All seven were killed.

VG previously wrote about 57-year-old John Chapman, who had his last day in Gaza, but who never came home.

John Flickinger has just returned home to Miami after burying his son in Saint-Jean, Quebec where the son grew up with his mother Sylvia Labrecque after his parents divorced when Jacob was little.

Now they are sharing their story and grief in the hope of helping to end the Israeli attacks on the people of Gaza.

Volunteered

– Jacob actually went to help World Central Kitchen (WCK) unload relief supplies on boats from Cyprus, says John Flickinger.

But they needed people on the ground in Gaza, and Jacob volunteered.

– Four days later he was due to return home. The wife and the little son of 18 months were looking forward to seeing dad again, says the father.

Last autumn, the son had been in Mexico and helped earthquake victims outside Alcupulcu before he traveled to help war victims in Gaza at the end of March.

The little family had just moved to Costa Rica to start a new life together there. Grandpa John was about to retire and was looking forward to spending more time with his grandchildren and the small family.

– I texted him the night before. Jacob was looking forward to seeing his son again. He was aware of the risks of going into Gaza.

But in Gaza the children are starving, for Jacob not helping was not an option.

– His life has been about serving and helping others, says the father.

For the past 12 years, Jacob had served for the Canadian Defense Forces and, among other things, had been in Afghanistan.

– Also, Jacob felt safe with his employer, says his father, an experienced organization which, since the invasion, has delivered over 42 million meals to Gaza’s population.

On Monday 1 April, the manager of WCK called with the horrible message.

John’s only son had been killed while trying to help others.

– His mother did not yet know what had happened. She didn’t even know Jacob was in Gaza.

The son hadn’t said anything because he didn’t want to worry his mother unnecessarily.

He got on the first flight to Canada to tell her himself.

– It was awful. Jacob was the whole world to her.

The day after the attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted that Israeli forces killed the aid workers in what he described as an accidental attack, and promised an investigation into the attack.

– The IDF takes thorough steps to ensure safe deliveries of humanitarian aid and has worked closely with World Central Kitchen in their important work of getting food and humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza, said a statement from the Israeli Defense Forces, IDF.

IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi has apologized, calling the attack “a mistake that followed a misidentification – at night in a war under very complex conditions.”

Jacob’s parents do not accept the explanation.

– Our son’s death is a crime. A day before the attack, the organization announced that they would deliver food supplies and they were in contact with the Israel Defense Forces throughout the process. The attack took place in a so-called humanitarian safe zone.

Should be safe

The Norwegian Refugee Council’s media adviser Ahmed Bayram in Jordan told VG earlier in April that there are strict control procedures when emergency aid is delivered in Gaza.

– These roads have been created as safe passages. Aid workers provide Israel with the exact itineraries, times and identities of everyone involved. It is precisely to prevent this from happening, and yet they are attacked.

They work under the strictest safety rules in the world, according to Bayram.

– Nevertheless, they continued to shoot until all the workers were dead, says the father.

They have lost their son. Many others have lost loved ones. Nearly 200 aid workers killed since Israel entered Gaza.

Now the parents are demanding an independent investigation into the attack, so that the world knows how this could happen.

– Israel owes us, the families and the rest of the world an explanation, says Flickinger to VG.

Jacob was laid to rest on Friday.

– It has taken time to get his remains home, says the father.

The son had friends all over the world. Last week they flocked to Canada to honor his memory.

– A friend traveled all the way to Israel to fly the coffin home so that Jacob would not have to travel alone, says the father.

Hundreds of people had turned up for the procession in Saint-Jean in Quebec. Jose Andres, the founder of World Central Kitchen, was one of several who honored Jacob.

– Jacob represents the best in man. He helped people he didn’t know. To show he cared. To show the world that he cared.

Jacob’s family believes President Joe Biden and the United States must take more responsibility and be tougher on Israel.

– Israel must stop the warfare and the mutilation of civilians in Gaza, says John, who has created a collection, a Gofundme, in support of Jacob’s widow and young son.

The attack has led to a number of organizations withdrawing. Staying is too dangerous. It makes the situation worse for the population in Gaza, which is close to a famine, the Norwegian Refugee Council points out.

Over 30,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the war started.