THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT has found that 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.
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 hit by Israeli missiles in April.
Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha, Damian Soból, Jacob Flickinger, John Chapman, James (Jim) Henderson and James Kirby were also killed by the strikes.
The deaths of the Australian, three Britons, a North American, a Palestinian and a Pole triggered global outrage.
Israel said it was targeting a “Hamas gunman” when it killed the aid workers, with the Israeli military admitting a series of “grave mistakes”.
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.
Former Australian air force chief Mark Binskin was tasked with monitoring Israel’s investigation.
His declassified report, published today, 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.
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”.
After the strike, Israel issued a public apology and stood down two officers, while three others were reprimanded.
But the report concluded the Israeli military needed to do more to make amends with the victims’ families.
“The families do not consider this to be a proper apology at the appropriate level,” it read.
“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.
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 current conflict in Gaza has been ongoing since Hamas’s 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’s retaliatory offensive 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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