Australian aid worker Lalzawmi “Zomi” Frankcom has left behind “a legacy of compassion, bravery and love” after she was killed in an apparent Israeli air strike in Gaza on Tuesday while delivering humanitarian supplies.
“We are deeply mourning the news that our brave and beloved Zomi has been killed doing the work she loves delivering food to the people of Gaza,” Frankcom’s family said in a statement.
“She was a kind, selfless and outstanding human being that has travelled the world helping others in their time of need.”
At the time of the tragedy, Frankcom, 43, had been travelling with other foreign aid workers, volunteering with the not-for-profit World Central Kitchen (WCK).
WCK’s Zomi & Chef Oli are in our new Deir al-Balah kitchen where our team is cooking thousands of portions of rice with beef & vegetable stew today. We’re expanding this space so we can increase the amount of meals we produce for families in central Gaza daily. #ChefsForThePeople pic.twitter.com/dSO7GrJSOv
— World Central Kitchen (@WCKitchen) March 25, 2024
The organisation confirmed on Tuesday that seven members of the team had been killed in an Israeli Defense Force Strike while travelling in a deconflicted zone. The victims are from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, Palestine and one was a dual citizen of the US and Canada.
“This is not only an attack against WCK, this is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the most dire of situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable,” said WCK CEO Erin Gore.
“I am heartbroken and appalled that we—World Central Kitchen and the world—lost beautiful lives today because of a targeted attack by the IDF. The love they had for feeding people, the determination they embodied to show that humanity rises above all, and the impact they made in countless lives will forever be remembered and cherished.”
WCK has said they coordinated movements with the IDF, but the convoy was hit as it was leaving the Deir al-Balah warehouse, where the team had unloaded more than 100 tons of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza on a ship from Cyprus.
‘A life dedicated to the service of others’
Born in Melbourne, Frankcom grew up in Sydney and attended St George Girl’s High School, graduating in 1998. She earned her bachelor of psychological science at Melbourne’s Swinburne University of Technology before working for Commonwealth Bank for eight years.
In 2019, Frankcom moved to the United States to start working with World Central Kitchen. Her role as a senior manager at the food charity took her around the world, to countries like Bangladesh, Morocco, Haiti, Pakistan, Turkey and Ukraine.
Along with her global work, Frankcom also made a big impact here at home when she returned to Australia in January 2020 to help coordinate efforts to feed emergency service personnel and displaced people during the Black Summer bushfires on the NSW South Coast.
Looking at Frankcom’s long list of achievements, it’s clear her sense of social justice was strong. In 2015, she volunteered for the NPY Women’s Council, an Indigenous advocacy group in the Northern Territory, and in 2017, she assisted the refugee support charity, One Step. And in 2022, Frankcom walked the red carpet for a documentary that was filmed about the World Central Kitchen aid agency’s incredible work.
Tributes have been flowing for the Australian hero, with Australian foreign minister, Penny Wong saying they “tell the story of a life dedicated to the service of others”.
“Her tireless work to improve the lives of others should never have cost Ms Frankcom her own. The government expresses its deepest sympathies to her family and loved ones, just as we mourn all civilian deaths in this conflict,” Wong said.
Frankcom’s friend and former WCK colleague Dora Weekley told the ABC News Channel her friend was “larger than life”, “huge-hearted and “relentless” in her efforts to help others.
“In a time of crisis you look to the helpers, and we’ve lost a really great one. A group of them,” Weekley said.
Catastrophic hunger in Gaza
On Wednesday morning, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the death of Frankcom and her team “completely unacceptable”. He also announced “the Israeli government has accepted responsibility for this”.
“We have called for full transparency and accountability, and for aid to reach Gaza unimpeded and in large quantities,” Albanese said.
There are 1.1 million people in Gaza experiencing “catastrophic” hunger, with a World Food Programme report warning of imminent famine in the territory.
The WCK estimates it has provided more than 35 million meals in Gaza since October 2023. The food charity has suspended its operations in the territory after the attack.