World News

Gaza: WCK calls for independent investigation into aid workers’ death

Food charity World Central Kitchen (WCK) has called for an independent investigation into the killing of seven of its staff by Israeli drone strikes in Gaza.

It comes after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said “grave mistakes” led to the fatal targeting of the workers.

An Israeli military inquiry led to two senior officers being dismissed.

However, the CEO of the aid group, Erin Gore said the Israeli military “cannot credibly investigate its own failure in Gaza”.

In a statement, Gore continued: “[The IDF’s] apologies for the outrageous killing of our colleagues represent cold comfort. It’s cold comfort for the victims’ families and WCK’s global family.”

She said Israel must take “concrete steps” to ensure the safety of aid workers operating on the ground in Gaza, where several organisations have suspended operations in light of the deaths.

Israel is under pressure from key Western partners to publish the full findings of its investigation, which have not been made public.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he had received the Israeli report and was “reviewing it very carefully”. He said the US will be “looking to see not just what steps are being taken, but the results that follow from them”.

The IDF said a “number of armed gunmen” were in the vicinity of the convoy, but drone operators wrongly tracked cars carrying aid workers.

The army apologised after admitting its soldiers did not follow protocols and were not given crucial information about the pre-approved aid mission.

UK Foreign Secretary Lord David Cameron said British officials were “carefully reviewing the initial findings” and called the dismissal of two officers a “first step”.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, he said: “These findings must be published in full and followed up with a wholly independent review to ensure utmost transparency and accountability.”

Additional material from the IDF investigation – including video footage purporting to show a Hamas gunman on top of an aid lorry – was shown to journalists in a private briefing ahead of the IDF’s public apology, but only a summary of the findings has been made publicly available.

The Israeli investigation was carried out via a pre-existing disciplinary procedure which deals with allegations of military misconduct, and was overseen by a reservist major general.

Much of the Gaza Strip has been devastated during the Israeli military operations that began after Hamas gunmen attacked southern Israel on 7 October, killing about 1,200 people and seizing 253 hostages.

More than 33,091 people have been killed in Gaza since then, the Hamas-run health ministry says.

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