Declassified UK: Massacre of UK aid workers: two years of obfuscation from Britain

April 1st marked the two year anniversary of Israel’s massacre of World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers in Gaza.

Seven members of the organisation were killed by Israeli drones while travelling in a convoy in Deir el-Balah in Central Gaza, after unloading 100 tonnes of food aid at its Gaza warehouse.

The group was travelling in a “deconflicted zone” in two armoured vehicles that were clearly branded with the WCK logo and had coordinated their movements with the Israeli military.

Three of them were former members of the UK armed forces. James Kirby, 47, from Bristol, John Chapman, 57, from Poole, Dorset, and James “Jim” Henderson, 33, from Falmouth, Cornwall, were all killed.

The attack was not an anomaly, but a feature of Israel’s systematic targeting of aid workers in Gaza. The United Nations said that 383 aid workers were killed in 2025, with nearly half of them in Gaza.

As Declassified previously revealed, Britain’s Ministry of Defence holds video footage of Gaza from the day of the attack but is refusing to publish it – footage taken by a Royal Air Force surveillance plane which spent approximately five hours above Gaza that day.

In December 2025, the family of James Henderson renewed their demand for the MoD to release the recording. “The reason for not supplying that footage from the Ministry of Defence is a bit of an insult,” his father told Declassified.

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The cousin of another of the victims, James Kirby, said in a statement released on the anniversary of his killing: “It is especially difficult to see that men who were so loyal and committed to their country have not yet received the justice they deserve.

“Two years on, communication from the government has been limited, and the family remains unsure whether a full and formal investigation is underway.”

A tepid statement from the UK’s Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer published on the two-year anniversary said the UK “will continue to push for justice”.

But Falconer is only calling on Israel to investigate itself. “I urge Israel to swiftly conclude and publish their findings into this attack. The families of those killed must know why this happened. Lessons must be learnt”, Falconer said.

But the accountability the British government is demanding would be much clearer if it released its own spy flight footage.

True to form, however, where Israel is involved, Britain prefers at best silence in the face of crimes and at worst smokescreens and deceit.

Hamza Yusuf

Regular Contributor
Declassified UK