SYDNEY: Australia “omitted crucial details” when presenting a report into the deaths of seven aid workers in Gaza, Israel’s embassy in Canberra said Monday in a frank diplomatic rebuke.
Australian national Lalzawmi “Zomi” Frankcom was among a group of seven charity workers killed in April when their World Central Kitchen aid convoy was mistakenly hit by an Israeli air strike.
A declassified Australian report last week blamed the lethal error on operational failures such as the “mistaken identification” of armed security staff as Hamas hijackers.
Israel’s embassy hit back on Monday morning, saying the Australian government “regrettably included some misrepresentations and omitted crucial details”, such as its military’s willingness to cooperate.
“The IDF (military) has taken full responsibility for the grave mistakes that led to the tragic incident of the night of April 1,“ the embassy said in a statement.
The deaths -- of an Australian, three Britons, a North American, a Palestinian and a Pole -- triggered global outrage and a renewed push to ensure the safety of aid workers in Gaza.
Former Australian air force chief Mark Binskin was tasked with monitoring Israel’s efforts to unravel what went wrong.
His declassified report, released Friday, found three vehicles in the aid convoy were “struck in relatively quick succession” after they were tagged as suspicious.
An Israeli surveillance drone flagged the vehicles after noticing some of the charity’s security personnel were carrying guns, Binskin found.
His report said some within the Israeli military believed the charity had “inadvertently” employed security guards from an “entity that had links to Hamas”.
Based on the information available to him, this was a possibility his report “cannot rule out”.
Aside from the litany of operational failures, Binskin’s report said Israel’s actions in the months following had been “timely” and “appropriate”.
- ‘Full accountability’ -
Two officers were quickly stood down, three others were reprimanded and Israel was swift to issue a public apology.
Israel’s embassy said Monday it would work “hand in hand” with aid organisations in a bid to “improve the humanitarian situation in the Gaza strip”.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong has said the Israeli military needs to do more to make amends with the victims’ families.
She said she would continue to press for “full accountability”, including potential criminal charges.
“We do believe an apology should be provided,“ Wong told reporters last week.
“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.”
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.
