While the death on Monday in Gaza in an Israeli army strike of seven humanitarian workers from the American NGO World Central Kitchen provokes strong reactions, particularly in the West, Israel is attempting a mea culpa. The Israeli army thus admitted this Wednesday to having made “a serious error”.
“It was an error which followed a poor identification at night, during a war, in very complex conditions. This should not have happened,” Israeli Chief of Staff General Herzi Halevi added in a video message.
Israel promises independent investigation
“We share the grief of the families (of the victims) and the entire World Central Kitchen organization, from the bottom of our hearts,” continued General Halevi. “An independent body will investigate the event in depth and will report its conclusions in the coming days,” he announced.
Israeli head of state Isaac Herzog expressed his “deep sadness and sincere apologies” in a statement on Tuesday evening. Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recognized an “unintentional” strike and a “tragic” event.
Joe Biden “outraged”
Several countries and organizations expressed their indignation, including the UN which denounced a “disregard for international humanitarian law”, and the United States, historic allies of Israel, which called for a “rapid and impartial” investigation. President Joe Biden, for his part, said he was “outraged”.
Based in the United States, WCK, one of the rare NGOs still operating in the Palestinian territory devastated by nearly six months of war between Israel and Hamas, announced that it was suspending its operations in the region after the strike, which occurred Monday evening in Deir al-Balah (center). The victims are three Britons, an American-Canadian, a Pole, an Australian and a Palestinian.