World Central Kitchen discredits the findings of an Israeli investigation led by a former general into a series of Israeli drone strikes on charity vehicles in the Gaza Strip this week that killed seven aid workers. refused as such.
Israel Defense Forces blames a series of “serious errors” by police officers over deadly attack that killed three British nationals, three other foreigners and a Palestinian colleague during a food delivery In the meantime, WCK has renewed its call for a full and independent investigation.
Amid mounting international pressure on Israel, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said the Israeli findings were being considered carefully by the UK and showed that “major reforms” were needed. Stated.
Prime Minister David Cameron: “It is clear that major reforms to Israel’s conflict resolution mechanisms are desperately needed to ensure the safety of aid workers.” Said With X.
Two mid-ranking officers have been fired, a general has been disciplined, and a hastily completed investigation reveals the Israeli military’s role in the incident, which has intensified global criticism of Israel’s war effort that has killed 33,000 Palestinians. A list of failures was outlined. 6 months.
WCK founder and celebrity chef José Andrés welcomed the report as a first step, but said: “The IDF is unable to credibly investigate its own failures in Gaza. It is not enough to simply try to avoid further humanitarian deaths, which have reached 70%. All civilians need to be protected, and all innocent people in Gaza need to be fed and safe. And all the hostages must be released.”
Erin Gore, the charity’s chief executive, said: “Their apology for the outrageous murder of our colleague represents a cold comfort. It is a comfort. Israel must take concrete steps to ensure the safety of humanitarian aid workers. Our operations remain suspended.”
WCK’s comments were echoed by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who said fixing deficiencies in Israel’s military procedures requires an “independent investigation” and meaningful and measurable changes on the ground.
“We want to know why,” Guterres said, noting that 196 humanitarian workers were killed during the Israeli operation.
The announcement of the punishment and apology did nothing to calm the international outcry over the WCK worker’s death, with international warnings that it was safe to resume operations in Gaza, where nearly a third of the population is at risk of starvation. Nor is it reassuring to aid organizations.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US is reviewing the findings and will consider very carefully what concrete steps Israel is taking to reduce harm to civilians.
“It is very important that Israel takes full responsibility for this incident. It is also important that it appears to be taking steps to hold those responsible accountable,” he said in Brussels. “More importantly, we will continue to take steps to ensure this never happens again.”
The Israeli Military Investigative Board blamed a series of “serious errors” by military officials, including a lack of coordination and misperceptions. The Israel Defense Forces announced that it had dismissed a brigade chief of staff at the rank of colonel and a brigade fire support officer at the rank of major, and formally disciplined other senior officers, including the commander of the Southern Command.
A quickly completed investigation revealed why the Nahal Brigade soldiers responsible did not know that humanitarian aid vehicles were operating in the area with IDF permission, a serious violation of IDF operational rules. Important questions such as why the commander who claimed to have launched the attack could not be answered.
The findings could once again raise doubts about the military’s decision-making. Palestinians, aid groups and human rights groups have repeatedly accused Israeli forces of recklessly firing on civilians throughout the conflict, an accusation Israel denies.
Among those who questioned whether the report was thorough enough was retired British general Charlie Herbert, who has been harshly critical of Israeli operations during the current conflict.
Herbert: “I fired two fairly junior police officers.” tweeted. “It was probably very bad judgment, with tragic consequences. But the real issue here is an institutional one: the IDF’s rules of engagement and disregard for ‘collateral damage.’ This is the reason for the huge civilian casualties since October. ”
Oxfam’s Scott Paul said at a conference with other relief organizations on Thursday, before the Israeli findings were released. This is a tragedy, but not an anomaly. The killing of aid workers in Gaza is systematic. ”
The Israeli military said an investigation found that the officers had mishandled vital information and violated the military’s rules of engagement.
“The strike on the support vehicle was a serious mistake resulting from a serious failure due to mistaken identification, poor decision-making and an attack that violated standard operating procedures,” the ministry said.
The investigation revealed that grainy drone camera footage showed the colonel authorized a series of drone attacks on the convoy based on one major’s observation that someone in the convoy was armed. That observation turned out to be untrue.
The group criticized officers for failing to read out a message warning forces that cars, not aid trucks, would be transporting charity workers from warehouses where relief supplies were being distributed. As a result, the targeted vehicle was mistakenly identified as transporting insurgents.
The military also accused the major who identified the target and the colonel who authorized the attack of acting with insufficient information.
The military initially said that one vehicle had been hit. People rushed to get into a second car, which was also struck. A third attack began as the survivors scrambled into a third car.
The Israel Defense Forces could not say exactly where communication about the convoy plans broke down and declined to answer questions about whether there had been similar violations of the rules of engagement during the war.
