Australian investigation blames Israeli military failure for deadly drone attack on aid convoy in Gaza

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The Israeli military’s attack on an aid convoy in the Gaza Strip in April that killed seven people was the result of serious deficiencies in defense procedures, misidentifications and decision-making errors, according to an Australian investigation released Friday.

Australia launched the investigation to examine Tel Aviv’s response to the widely condemned drone strikes by the Israel Defense Forces on three World Central Kitchen vehicles on April 1. Australian Zomi Frankcom, three of her aid colleagues and three British security personnel died in the attack.

Former Australian defence chief Mark Binskin was appointed special adviser to the government on the matter and visited Israel in May. He also spoke to World Central Kitchen and Solace Global, the company that provided the convoy’s security team.

In a statement, Binskin blamed the deadly attacks on “serious violations of Israeli military procedures, misidentifications and errors in decision-making.”

The armed security forces were probably mistaken for Hamas members, Binskin said. This was the main reason for a “significant breakdown in situational awareness.”

He concluded that the strikes were not specifically directed against World Central Kitchen.

But Binskin wrote: “It is important to all families that they receive a proper apology from the Israeli government.”

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she had told Israel the families deserved an apology.

While Binskin’s report outlined the steps Israel had taken to prevent a repeat of the tragedy, “tougher measures” were needed to protect aid workers in Gaza, Wong said.

“For an aid worker, Gaza remains the deadliest place in the world. This was not an isolated incident,” Wong told reporters.

“The UN reports that more than 250 aid workers have been killed since the conflict began and several UN vehicles have been attacked in recent weeks. This is unacceptable,” Wong added.

Binskin said his conclusions were “fairly consistent” with an Israeli military investigation in April that led to the firing of two officers and the reprimand of three within a week of the botched attack.

Military Lawyer Brigadier General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, Israel’s chief military lawyer, is considering further possible steps against those responsible.

Wong said the Frankcom family believes the disciplinary measures taken so far have not been sufficient.

“The Australian government will continue to push for full accountability, including all appropriate criminal charges, and we will continue to represent the views of the Frankcom family and the Australian government to Israel,” Wong said.

A family representative issued a statement Friday welcoming Binskin’s report as an “important first step.”

“We hope that further investigations will be launched in Israel into those responsible for this tragic event and that appropriate action will be taken afterwards,” the family said in a statement.

Binskin said the Israeli military had been “very accommodating” in his investigation, but the level of detail in the Israeli statements about the specific operational improvements it had made since the convoy error made it difficult for him to judge how effective the changes had been.

Other World Central Kitchen employees killed included American-Canadian national Jacob Flickinger, Palestinian Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha and Polish national Damian Sobol. The British security team included John Chapman, James Kirby and Jim Henderson.