Chef José Andrés says aid workers killed by Israeli airstrikes represented the 'best of humanity'

WASHINGTON (AP) — The seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by Israeli airstrikes represented the “best of humanity” and risked everything “to feed people they did not know and will never meet,” José Andrés, the celebrity chef who founded the organization, told mourners who gathered Thursday to honor the dead.

Speaking at Washington National Cathedral, Andrés said there was no excuse for the killings and he called for an investigation into the deaths. He appeared to struggle at times to maintain his composure, his words focused on the lives and contributions of the aid workers as he pleaded for greater compassion.

“The seven souls we mourn today were there so that hungry people could eat,” said Andrés, reading aloud their names. "Their examples should inspire us to do better, to be better.”

The workers were killed April 1 when strikes from Israeli armed drones ripped through vehicles in their convoy as they left one of World Central Kitchen’s warehouses on a food delivery mission: Palestinian Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha; Britons John Chapman, James Kirby and James Henderson; dual U.S.-Canadian citizen Jacob Flickinger; Australian Lalzawmi Frankcom; and Polish citizen Damiam Sobol.

Andrés spoke in depth about each one and their contributions to the work of feeding people suffering through disaster and deprivation — human-made and natural — around the world.

He said Abutaha was an integral member of the team who was very close to his family. He said Chapman was “brave, selfless and strong” and had the ability to make people around him feel “loved and protected.”

Andrés said Flickinger was a problem-solver, “exactly what you need” in the chaos of a disaster zone and Frankcom gave “joy to others even more than she gave food."

He talked of how Henderson had taught first aid in Ukraine and was an avid rugby player. He said Kirby, known to friends as “Kirbs," was driven to help people in need. And he said a town in Turkey had named a street after Sobol, in honor of his work there after an earthquake.

At times, Andrés spoke emotionally about the organization's mission and why aid workers do what they do.

“We stand next to communities as they feed themselves, nourish themselves, heal themselves. People don’t want our pity. They want our respect. Our only way to show respect is facing the mayhem alongside them,” he said. “We remind them by showing up that they are not alone in the darkness.”

After an unusually swift investigation, Israel said the military officials involved in the attack had violated policy by acting based on a single grainy photo that one officer had contended — incorrectly — showed one of the seven workers was armed. The Israeli military dismissed two officers and reprimanded three others.

“I know we all have many unanswered questions about what happened and why. There is no excuse for these killings," Andrés told mourners, demanding an investigation. "The official explanation is not good enough.”

The aid workers, whose trip had been coordinated with Israeli officials, are among more than 220 humanitarian workers killed in the Israel-Hamas war that began Oct. 7, according to the United Nations. That includes at least 30 killed in the line of duty.

The international prominence and popularity of Andrés and his nonprofit work galvanized widespread outrage over the killings of the group’s workers. The deaths intensified demands from the administration and others that Israel’s military change how it operates in Hamas-controlled Gaza to spare aid workers and Palestinian civilians in the territory who are facing a humanitarian crisis and desperately need aid from relief organizations as the U.N. warns of looming famine.

World Central Kitchen, along with several other humanitarian aid agencies, suspended work in the territory after the attack. “We haven’t given up,” World Central Kitchen spokesperson Linda Roth said last week. “We are in funeral mode right now.”

Douglas Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, and Kurt Campbell, the deputy secretary of state, were among those at the event, joined by diplomats from more than 30 countries, along with representatives from the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, one of the most active lawmakers pushing President Joe Biden to condition military aid on improved Israeli treatment of aid workers and Palestinian civilians, joined the mourners as a lone bagpiper played.

Associated Press writers Menelaos Hadjicostis in Nicosia, Cyprus, and Rebecca Santana contributed to this report.

This story has been corrected to reflect that Kurt Campbell is the deputy secretary of state, not the assistant deputy secretary of state.

Chef Jose Andres, founder of the American NGO World Central Kitchen, speaks during the World Central Kitchen's memorial service at the National Cathedral, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Washington. The memorial service is honoring seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza this month. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Chef Jose Andres, founder of the American NGO World Central Kitchen, speaks during the World Central Kitchen's memorial service at the National Cathedral, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Washington. The memorial service is honoring seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza this month. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Yo-Yo Ma plays the cello as, front row from left, Second gentleman Doug Emhoff, Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, Sen. Chris Van Hollen D-Md., Katherine Wilkins, Assistant Secretary of State Julieta Valls Noyes and Suzy George, look on, at the National Cathedral, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Washington. A memorial at the National Cathedral in Washington is honoring seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza this month. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Yo-Yo Ma plays the cello during the World Central Kitchen's memorial service at the National Cathedral, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Washington. The memorial service is honoring seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza this month. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Chef Jose Andres, founder of the American NGO World Central Kitchen, speaks during the World Central Kitchen's memorial service at the National Cathedral, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Washington. The memorial service is honoring seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza this month. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Chef Jose Andres, founder of the American NGO World Central Kitchen, speaks during the World Central Kitchen's memorial service at the National Cathedral, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Washington. The memorial service is honoring seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza this month. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Cardinal Wilton Gregory, Archbishop of Washington speaks during the World Central Kitchen's memorial service at the National Cathedral, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Washington. The memorial service is honoring seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza this month. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Chef Jose Andres founder of the American NGO World Central Kitchen, walks after speaking at the World Central Kitchen's memorial service at the National Cathedral, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Washington. The memorial service is honoring seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza this month. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Chef Jose Andres, founder of the American NGO World Central Kitchen, speaks during the World Central Kitchen's memorial service at the National Cathedral, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Washington. The memorial service is honoring seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza this month. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Chef Jose Andres, founder of the American NGO World Central Kitchen, speaks during the World Central Kitchen's memorial service at the National Cathedral, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Washington. The memorial service is honoring seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza this month. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Chef Jose Andres, founder of the American NGO World Central Kitchen, speaks during the World Central Kitchen's memorial service at the National Cathedral, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Washington. The memorial service is honoring seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza this month. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

From left, Second gentleman Doug Emhoff, Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, Sen. Chris Van Hollen D-Md., Katherine Wilkins, and Assistant Secretary of State Julieta Valls Noyes, during the World Central Kitchen's memorial service at the National Cathedral, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Washington. The memorial service is honoring seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza this month. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Chef Jose Andres, founder of the American NGO World Central Kitchen, speaks during the World Central Kitchen's memorial service at the National Cathedral, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Washington. The memorial service is honoring seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza this month. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

FILE - Palestinians inspect a vehicle with the logo of the World Central Kitchen wrecked by an Israeli airstrike in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, April 2, 2024. A memorial at the National Cathedral in Washington, on April 25, will honor seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza earlier this month. (AP Photo/Ismael Abu Dayyah, File)

LONDON (AP) — London took center stage on Saturday as the counting of votes began in the capital city's mayoral contest, a day after Britain's governing Conservative Party suffered a drubbing in local election results.

Sadiq Khan, the Labour Party mayor who is chasing a historic third straight election win, had been widely expected to win easily, but there are some concerns that the race may be tighter than previously thought.

That's mainly due to the fact that turnout at Thursday's election — at a total of 40.5% — was higher in the outer suburbs than in the inner city. Khan's main opponent, the Conservatives' Susan Hall, focused her campaign on issues such as a levy imposed on high-polluting vehicles, which has resonated in the suburbs where residents depend more on their cars for work and essential travel.

Also, there are concerns within Labour that Khan may have suffered from the blowback of the party leadership's strong pro-Israel stance over the war in Gaza, which results Friday clearly showed depressed support in strongly Muslim areas in England.

The result is due around lunchtime but officials have cautioned that it could run into the early hours of Sunday.

Overall, the results of Thursday's array of local elections cemented expectations that the Labour Party will return to power after 14 years in a U.K. general election that will take place in the coming months.

Labour won control of councils in England that the party hasn’t held for decades, and was successful in a special election for a seat in Parliament. If those results are repeated in the general election, it would lead to one of the Conservatives' biggest-ever defeats.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was able to breathe a sigh of relief when the Conservative mayor of Tees Valley in the northeast of England was reelected, albeit with a depressed share of the vote.

The victory of Ben Houchen, who ran a very personal campaign, appears to have been enough to cushion Sunak from any revolt by Conservative lawmakers.

Sunak will be hoping that Andy Street will also hold on in the West Midlands, especially in Birmingham, which has a big Muslim community.

Labour leader Keir Starmer conceded that the party has had issues with Muslim voters, but the results in general were positive for the man who is favorite to become prime minister at the next general election.

“We're fed up with your division, with your chaos, with your failure,” he said Saturday. “If you leave your country in a worse state than when you found it 14 years later, you do not deserve to be in government a moment longer.”

He called on Sunak to call an election now. Sunak has the power to decide on the date, and has indicated that it will be in the second half of 2024.

Thursday’s elections in large parts of England were important in themselves, with voters deciding on who runs many aspects of their daily lives, such as garbage collection, road maintenance and local crime prevention. But with a national election looming, they are being viewed through a national prism.

John Curtice, professor of politics at the University of Strathclyde, said the results show that Sunak has not helped the Conservative brand following the damage accrued by the actions of his predecessors, Boris Johnson and then Liz Truss.

“That in a sense is the big takeaway," he told BBC radio.

Sunak became prime minister in October 2022, after Truss's short-lived tenure. She left office after 49 days following a budget of unfunded tax cuts that roiled financial markets and sent borrowing costs for homeowners surging.

Her chaotic — and traumatic — leadership compounded the Conservatives’ difficulties following the circus surrounding her predecessor Johnson, who was forced to quit after being adjudged to have lied to Parliament over coronavirus lockdown breaches at his offices in Downing Street.

By midmorning Saturday, with most of the 2,661 seats up for grabs in the local elections counted, the Conservatives were down by more than 446 while Labour was up 173. Other parties, such as the centrist Liberal Democrats and the Green Party also made gains. Reform U.K., which is trying to usurp the Conservatives from the right, also had some successes, notably in Blackpool South, where it was less than 200 votes from grabbing second place.

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak smiles as he inspects the Passing Out Parade of the Parachute Regiment recruits during his visit to the Helles Barracks at the Catterick Garrison, a military base in North Yorkshire, Britain, Friday, May 3, 2024. (Molly Darlington/Pool photo via AP)

Labour candidate Chris Webb celebrates after winning the Blackpool South by-election following the count at Blackpool Sports Centre in Blackpool, Britain, Friday, May 3, 2024. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)

FILE - A woman pushes a buggy as she arrives to vote at a polling station in London, Thursday, May 2, 2024. Britain's governing Conservative Party is suffering heavy losses as local election results pour in Friday, piling pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ahead of a U.K. general election in which the main opposition Labour Party appears increasingly likely to return to power after 14 years. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

Counting begins at the Blackpool South by-election at Blackpool Sports Centre in Blackpool, England, Thursday, May 2, 2024. The by-election was triggered after the resignation of Scott Benton. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)

A woman holds an umbrella as she walks along the banks of the River Thames opposite the Houses of Parliament in London, Friday, May 3, 2024. Britain's governing Conservative Party is suffering heavy losses as local election results pour in Friday, piling pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ahead of a U.K. general election in which the main opposition Labour Party appears increasingly likely to return to power after 14 years. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Conservative party candidate Lord Ben Houchen, left, with Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak following his re-election as Tees Valley Mayor in Teesside, England, Friday May 3, 2024. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)

Britain's Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer, center, and shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, celebrate with David Skaith at Northallerton Town Football Club, North Yorkshire, after winning the York and North Yorkshire mayoral election, Friday May 3, 2024. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)

Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks as he takes part in broadcasting a clip during his visit to the Helles Barracks at the Catterick Garrison, a military base in North Yorkshire, Britain, Friday, May 3, 2024. (Molly Darlington/Pool photo via AP)