Members of the Israeli army’s infantry 6th brigade take part in an assault coordination exercise near Moshav Kidmat Tsvi in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights, amid ongoing cross-border tensions as fighting continues with Hamas militants in the southern Gaza Strip. (Jalaa Marey/AFP)
- An Israeli strike on charity workers was a mistake, Australia concluded.
- Seven World Central Kitchen staff were killed when their convoy was struck in Gaza.
- Israel was swift to issue a public apology.
An Israeli strike that killed seven charity workers in a Gaza aid convoy was the result of “mistaken identification” and a raft of other serious failures, the Australian government found in a report released on Friday.
Australian national Lalzawmi “Zomi” Frankcom was among a group of seven World Central Kitchen staff killed when their convoy – working to distribute food and water – was mistakenly hit by Israeli missiles in April.
Canberra is now pushing for Israel to apologise to the victims’ families and urging its military to rethink how it engages with aid groups in the Palestinian enclave.
The deaths of an Australian, three Britons, a North American, a Palestinian and a Pole triggered global outrage.
Former Australian air force chief Mark Binskin was tasked with monitoring Israel’s investigation.
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His declassified report, released on Friday, found three trucks in the aid convoy were “struck in relatively quick succession”.
An Israeli surveillance drone flagged the vehicles after noticing some of the charity’s security escort were carrying guns, Binskin found.
A “breakdown in situational awareness” and a sense of “confusion” led to the “mistaken identification” of these security staff.
Local volunteers of the World Central Kitchen cook meals to be distributed to needy Palestinians in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Hamas movement. (AFP)
Israeli commanders believed they were armed Hamas hijackers rather than civilian security, the report found.
Photos showed how one of the missiles obliterated the interior of a white aid truck after piercing a hole in its roof, which was emblazoned with the charity’s logo.
Another significant blunder was the failure to read the movement plan previously agreed on by the military and the charity.
Israel only discovered the lethal error when reports started circulating on social media about an hour later, the report concluded.
Aside from the litany of “serious failures” uncovered, Binskin’s report said Israel’s actions in the months following had been “timely” and “appropriate”.
Two officers were quickly stood down and three others were reprimanded.
Israel was swift to issue a public apology.
But the report concluded the Israeli military needed to do more to make amends with the victims’ families.
It read:
The families do not consider this to be a proper apology at the appropriate level.
“Not do they feel reassured that lessons have truly been taken from the incident and that measures have been put in place to reduce the chance of it happening again.”
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Canberra would continue to press for “full accountability” – including potential criminal charges.
“We do believe an apology should be provided,” Wong told reporters.
“The Australian government will persist until proper protections for aid workers are in place,” she added.
“The best protection for aid workers and civilians is a ceasefire.”
Founded by celebrity chef Jose Andres, US-based charity World Central Kitchen provides food to areas ravaged by humanitarian crises and natural disasters.
World Central Kitchen (WCK) founder Jose Andres attends an interfaith memorial service for the seven WCK workers killed in Gaza, at the Washington National Cathedral, in Washington, DC. (Saul Loeb/AFP)
It was one of only two NGOs spearheading efforts to deliver aid to Gaza by boat from Cyprus.
Having paused its Gaza work in the wake of the strike, World Central Kitchen resumed operations in late April.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu previously admitted that the military had “unintentionally” killed the volunteers.
The Gaza conflict erupted with Palestinian militant group Hamas’ 7 October attack on southern Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1 197 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.
The militants seized 251 hostages, 111 of whom remain in Gaza, including 39 the military says are dead.
Israel responded with a military offensive that has killed at least 39 480 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to data from the territory’s health ministry.
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