Saifeddin Abutaha
Palestinian driver and translator for World Central Kitchen · c. 1998–2024 · Deir al-Balah, central Gaza
Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha, 25, the Palestinian member of World Central Kitchen's Gaza team, was behind the wheel of one of the convoy's cars when Israeli drones struck it on April 1, 2024, killing him and six foreign colleagues.
Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha, 25, known to friends as Saif, was born in Gaza and graduated from Ajman University in the United Arab Emirates before returning home to work with his father at the Great Arab Mills Company, according to World Central Kitchen’s tribute to him. When the war began, he joined WCK’s Gaza team as a driver and translator. His brother Abdul Razzaq told the Associated Press that Saif’s business dealings had made him known on the Israeli side, which helped the charity with coordination and approvals — and that he was “a dedicated young man eager to help fellow Palestinians.”
On April 1, 2024, Abutaha was driving one of the three cars in the WCK convoy when Israeli drones struck the vehicles after they left the charity’s Deir al-Balah warehouse, killing him and six colleagues from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom and the United States. He was the only Palestinian among the seven. “Saif worked tirelessly until his very last moments when he was behind the wheel of one of the cars in the convoy,” WCK wrote, remembering him not only as a colleague but as family.
Sources
Open questions
World Central Kitchen and the victims' families have demanded an independent investigation; Israel dismissed two officers, but no criminal charges are known to have been brought.