Israel has admitted its forces made a “grave mistake” after seven aid workers with World Central Kitchen were killed in an airstrike.

The humanitarian group, which delivers food aid to war and disaster zones, said the seven were returning from coordinating an aid shipment in central Gaza when their three car convoy was struck and they were killed.

Their deaths triggered a wave of international condemnation and shone a fresh spotlight on the dire conditions that Gaza’s besieged population is suffering from in the embattled enclave.

More than 220 humanitarian workers have been killed in the conflict so far, according to the UN. Responding to the inquiry, Scott Paul, humanitarian policy lead at Oxfam, said: “The World Central Kitchen attack is tragic, but it’s not an anomaly. The killing of aid workers in Gaza has been systemic.

Israel’s investigation into the incident was led by Yoav Har-Even, a retired military officer, who on Friday said two military officers have been dismissed over the drone strikes on aid workers.

According to the inquiry there were two main areas of wrongdoing. Firstly, the officers failed to read messages telling them that cars, and not aid trucks, would be taking the charity away from the warehouse where the food aid was stored.

As a result, the cars that were targeted were misidentified as transporting members of Hamas.

The army also faulted a major who identified the strike target and a colonel who approved the strike, for acting with insufficient information. The army said the order was given after one of the passengers inside a car was identified as a gunman.

It said troops became suspicious because a gunman had been seen on the roof of one of the delivery trucks on the way to the warehouse.

The army showed reporters footage of the gunman firing his weapon while riding on top of one of the trucks. After the aid was dropped off at a warehouse, an officer believed he had spotted a gunman in one of the cars.

The passenger, it turned out, was not carrying a weapon - the military said it is possible he was just carrying a bag.

The army said it initially hit one car. As people scrambled away into a second car, it hit that vehicle as well. It did the same thing when survivors scrambled into a third car.

Army officials claimed that drone operators could not see that the cars were marked with the words World Central Kitchen because it was night.

The army could not say exactly where the communication about the convoy’s plans had broken down.

Har-Even said: “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.

“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.”

As a consequence it has dismissed a brigade chief of staff with the rank of colonel and a brigade fire support officer with the rank of major, and issued formal reprimands to senior officers including the general at the head of the Southern Command.

The WCK earlier this week indentified all those who died after the IDF struck the convoy. Saifeddin Issam Ayab Abutaha, 25, of Palestine; Lalzawmi Frankcom, 43, of Australia; Damian Soból, 35, of Poland; Jacob Flickinger, 33, a US-Canadian dual citizen; along with UK citizens John Chapman, 57, James Henderson, 33, and James Kirby, 47.

The seven who were killed were distributing food that had been taken into Gaza through a newly established maritime corridor.

WCK said it had co-ordinated its movements with the military, and that the vehicles were marked with the organisation’s logo.

The food charity itself called the investigation and disciplinary actions “important steps forward.”

“However 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,” the statement said. “Without systemic change, there will be more military failures, more apologies and more grieving families.”

The outcome of the investigation comes just a day after US president Joe Biden warned Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu that US support for Israel would be determined by its efforts to protect civilians and aid workers.

Just hours after the two leaders conversed Israel agreed to reopen two border crossings into Gaza to increase the flow of humanitarian aid.

Source: Independent 
--Agencies