JERUSALEM: Following the discovery of grave mistakes and protocol violations in an investigation into the deaths of seven charity workers in an airstrike in Gaza this week, the Israeli military on Friday fired two officers and formally chastised top commanders.
The investigation concluded that customary protocols had not been followed and that Israeli soldiers had wrongly believed they were attacking Hamas fighters when drones struck the three vans of the World Central Kitchen humanitarian group late on Monday night.
The military said in a statement released on Friday that “the strike on the aid vehicles is a grave mistake stemming from a serious failure due to a mistaken identification, errors in decision-making, and an attack contrary to the standard operating procedures.”
The murders of the seven humanitarian workers this week, which comprised Polish, British, and Australian citizens as well as a dual US-Canadian citizen and a Palestinian coworker, infuriated people all around the world.
US President Joe Biden warned to change US policy toward Israel unless it lessened suffering to people in Gaza, which had relied on aid even before the war, during a phone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday. Since the battle started six months ago, hunger has increased.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated on Friday that Washington will closely monitor Israel’s actions and was closely evaluating Israel’s inquiry.
It’s critical that Israel accepts all accountability for this catastrophe. It’s also noteworthy that it seems to be making an effort to hold those accountable. Blinken told reporters in Brussels that what’s even more crucial is that actions are being made going ahead to guarantee that anything similar can never occur again.
World Central Kitchen sought an independent commission to look into the situation when the results were published. According to a statement released by WCK, “there will be more military failures, more apologies, and more grieving families without systemic change.”
Although the seven WCK employees were murdered in an air attack, the Israeli army (IDF) had already admitted as much, but the unusually quick investigation highlighted the impact the incident had on public opinion around the world.
The chef who established World Central Kitchen, Jose Andres, claimed last week that the seven laborers had been attacked “systematically, car by car” as they hurried to reach cover after successive hits to their cars.
The military announced that it had publicly reprimanded senior commanders, including the general in charge of Southern Command, and removed a brigade chief of staff who had the rank of colonel and a brigade fire support officer who held the rank of major.
The military claimed that the file was also turned over to the military advocate general, who will take into account the possibility of a criminal probe.
200 tons of food
As part of efforts to enhance the quantity of aid coming into Israeli-besieged Gaza, the WCK managed four planned missions last month, the second of which was the convoy attacked. The missions were to transport some 200 tons of food to Gaza by sea.
According to the military, armed suspects had hopped onto at least one of the trucks as the assistance convoy that the light vehicles were accompanying traveled late on Monday across Gaza’s beachfront road toward a logistics point.
A spokesman for the army claimed that after showcasing drone footage of a guy firing a firearm from atop a truck to reporters, the military made an unsuccessful attempt to get in touch with WCK coordinators.
