The World Country Kitchen (WCK) has said the Israeli army’s investigation is an “important step forward” but called for an independent commission to probe the killings of its staff.
- The Israeli army “cannot credibly investigate its own failure in Gaza”, the charity said in a statement.
“It is also clear from their preliminary investigation that the IDF has deployed deadly force without regard to its own protocols, chain of command and rules of engagement,” it added, referring to the Israeli army.
WCK also called for the establishment of an independent investigation into Monday’s deadly accident.
- “The IDF has acknowledged that our teams followed all proper communications procedures. The IDF’s own video fails to show any cause to fire on our personnel convoy, which carried no weapons and posed no threat,” it said.
- “Without systemic change, there will be more military failures, more apologies and more grieving families.”
Here are more details on the measures that will be taken following the investigation, according to the Israeli army’s statement:
– A support commander, an officer with the rank of major, will be dismissed from his position;
-The brigade chief of staff, an officer with the rank of colonel in reserve, will be dismissed from his position;
-The brigade commander and the 162nd Division commander will be formally reprimanded;
-The Israeli army’s Chief of Staff decided to formally reprimand the commander of the Southern Command for his overall responsibility for the incident.
‘Grave mistake’: Israeli army releases statement on investigation into aid convoy killings.
The Israeli military says it has dismissed two officers and reprimanded three others for their roles in drone strikes in Gaza that killed seven aid workers on a food-delivery mission, saying they had mishandled critical information and violated the army’s rules of engagement.
The findings of a retired general’s investigation into the Monday killings marked an embarrassing admission by Israel, which faces growing accusations from key allies, including the US, of not doing enough to protect Gaza’s civilians from its war with Hamas.
- “It’s a tragedy,” the military’s spokesman Daniel Hagari, told reporters.
- “It’s a serious event that we are responsible for and it shouldn’t have happened and we will make sure that it won’t happen again.”
Here’s what the Israeli army said in its investigation regarding the attack in which seven workers of the World Central Kitchen were killed in Gaza:
- “The investigation’s findings indicate that the incident should not have occurred. Those who approved the strike were convinced that they were targeting armed Hamas operatives and not WCK employees,” read a statement by the army.
- “The strike on the aid vehicles is a grave mistake stemming from a serious failure due to a mistaken identification, errors in decision-making, and an attack contrary to the Standard Operating Procedures,” it added.
Source: Al Jazeera
Poland says Israeli ambassador apologised, won’t be expelled
Poland’s deputy foreign minister says that the Israeli ambassador to Poland apologised after an Israeli air strike killed a Polish aid worker in Gaza this week.
- Israeli ambassador Yacov Livne would not be expelled from Poland, the deputy Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Szejna said.
Source: Al Jazeera