Australia says Israel did not deliberately kill foreign aid workers in Gaza

An Australian report on the death toll said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) made the decision to fire rockets at the convoy after mistakenly believing it had been hijacked by Hamas militants who were in fact locally hired security guards.

In addition, it said, information about the WCK convoy’s movements did not reach the IDF team behind the attack. This confusion was compounded because Israeli officials were not allowed to communicate directly with the aid convoy, the review added.

The IDF also violated standard procedures by ordering a second and third strike on the convoy without re-identification, the statement said.

“In this incident, IDF controls clearly failed, leading to errors in decision-making and misidentification, likely exacerbated by some level of confirmation error,” said Air Marshal Mark Binskin, who traveled to Israel to investigate the deaths.

“Based on the information available to me, I assess that the attack by the IDF on WCK aid workers was not consciously or intentionally directed against the WCK.”

He added that the Israeli investigation into the deaths was “timely, appropriate and, with some exceptions, sufficient.”

Binskin said an apology and compensation to the families were important criteria for Israel, but did not recommend that Australia seek any compensation from Israel.

The IDF apologized and fired two senior commanders involved in the attacks. Three other commanders were formally reprimanded. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attacks were unintentional and tragic.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia wants those responsible to be held accountable and, if appropriate, face criminal charges.

Wong said she had written to her Israeli counterpart calling for greater protection for aid workers.

“This is not an isolated case,” she said.

“We have seen 250 humanitarian workers killed in this conflict, and we have also seen recent events where UN vehicles have been shot at, and it is clear that more needs to be done.”

The family of murdered aid worker Frankcom called the Australian investigation an important first step and said they hoped Israel would conduct further investigations and then take appropriate action.