World Central Kitchen
“Serious failure”: Israeli army fires officers after attack on aid organization
An ambulance carrying bodies of aid organization World Central Kitchen arrives at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt in the southern Gaza Strip
© Ismael Mohamad / Imago Images
The deaths of seven aid workers in the Gaza Strip in an Israeli army attack sparked international outrage. After the investigation, the General Staff is now drawing conclusions: two officers have to vacate their posts.
After the deadly attack by the Israeli army on employees of the The military wants to remove two officers from their posts in the Gaza Strip aid organization World Central Kitchen (WCK). Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi has decided to dismiss a responsible commander and the chief of staff of the responsible brigade from their positions, the military announced on Friday. Other commanders are reportedly being warned.
An army investigation published on Friday concluded that Monday evening’s incident represented a “serious failure” by Israeli forces. They attacked the aid convoy because they suspected that two armed Hamas members were in the car, according to a military unit responsible for investigating unusual incidents during the war.
Israeli soldiers are said to have failed to recognize the car as an NGO vehicle
The Israeli emergency services did not recognize the vehicles as WCK cars. The attacks on the three vehicles were carried out in “a serious violation of the army’s orders and standard operating procedures.” “The results of the investigation indicate that the incident should not have happened,” it said. According to World Central Kitchen, the three bombed vehicles were clearly marked.
According to a Haaretz report, the unit responsible for security on the road traveled by the convoy identified an armed man on a truck. The truck, escorted by WCK vehicles, then drove into a warehouse. A few minutes later, the aid organization’s three vehicles left the warehouse again – but without the truck on which the gunman was said to have been.
According to the aid organization, the seven aid workers killed in the incident came from Australia, Poland, Great Britain and the Palestinian territories – and one of the victims has American and Canadian citizenship.
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Poland’s Foreign Ministry has handed over a protest note to Israel’s ambassador. Ambassador Jakov Livne apologized for the attack, said Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Szejna on Friday after the meeting. Previously, statements by the diplomat and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu triggered a new crisis in the difficult Israeli-Polish relations.
The protest note made it clear that Israel must investigate the soldiers responsible for the attack on the humanitarian convoy not only disciplinarily but also criminally, said Szejna. “It wasn’t an act of war, it was murder.” Poland is also demanding compensation for the family of the killed helper. The Foreign Ministry also rejected Livne’s allegations of anti-Semitism. “Criticism from the public or the Polish government of Israel’s leadership and its armed forces in connection with (…) this murder of seven volunteers is not an expression of anti-Semitism,” emphasized Szejna.