The celebrity chef's humanitarian staffers -- who worked for his nonprofit, World Central Kitchen, which is stationed in Gaza rendering food and aid to Palestinians -- died after their vehicle was struck in the war-torn region.

World Central Kitchen did not identify the workers who were lost in the airstrike, but did claim the staffers died "while working to support our humanitarian food delivery efforts in Gaza." WCK also alleged their workers were taken out during an Israeli Defense Forces attack.

The non-profit added ... "This is a tragedy. Humanitarian aid workers and civilians should NEVER be a target. EVER."

José shared WCK's statement to his own account on X Monday evening, and penned his own tribute to the fallen aid workers.

He wrote ... "I am heartbroken and grieving for their families and friends and our whole WCK family. These are people…angels…I served alongside in Ukraine, Gaza, Turkey, Morocco, Bahamas, Indonesia. They are not faceless…they are not nameless."

Chef Andres adds, "The Israeli government needs to stop this indiscriminate killing. It needs to stop restricting humanitarian aid, stop killing civilians and aid workers, and stop using food as a weapon. No more innocent lives lost. Peace starts with our shared humanity. It needs to start now."

In response to the news, the IDF said they're conducting a thorough review into the situation, calling the casualties a "tragic incident."

The statement continued ... "The IDF makes extensive efforts to enable the safe delivery of humanitarian aid, and has been working closely with WCK in their vital efforts to provide food and humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza." According to Al Jazeera, the WCK staffers are the first aid workers to be killed in the Israel-Hamas conflict.