Australia summons Israeli ambassador over World Central Kitchen strike: What to know

The Australian Foreign Ministry summoned Israeli Ambassador Hillel Newman on Thursday for a reprimand after the Israeli military prosecutor decided not to open a criminal investigation into the 2024 deaths of seven aid workers in the Gaza Strip. One of the seven killed — Lalzawmi "Zomi" Frankcom — was an Australian national traveling with the others in the World Central Kitchen convoy.

“Australia is outraged by the Israeli government’s decision not to pursue any criminal proceedings against those responsible for killing Zomi Frankcom and her World Central Kitchen colleagues,” Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said at a press conference on Thursday, adding that the Israeli decision “falls far short of the accountability we expect.”

Wong stressed that the report by Israel's military police left many “unanswered questions.” Among them is if the first strike on the convoy was “a catastrophic error,” why two further strikes followed. Wong also said Australia was still waiting to receive the drone's audio recording of the attack.

Attack on WCK convoy

On April 1, 2024, near the city of Deir al-Balah, an Israeli drone targeted a three-car convoy belonging to the organization. Local and foreign workers had been overseeing the transfer of a shipment of food from the Gaza shoreline to a warehouse in the north. The seven deceased workers included British, Australian, Polish, Palestinian and dual American-Canadian nationals.

The group said at the time that the journey had been coordinated in advance with Israeli authorities. A report published by Haaretz on April 5 attributed the incident to a lack of discipline among commanders in the field. A preliminary internal military investigation concluded that the strike on the vehicles was “a serious error resulting from a grave failure, caused by misidentification, a mistake in decision-making, and an attack contrary to orders and open-fire regulations,” Haaretz reported.

Haaretz reported that soldiers from the unit responsible for the area through which the convoy was traveling spotted an armed man in one of the vehicles and suspected he was a Hamas assailant. Israeli military regulations prohibit opening fire on armed individuals accompanying humanitarian aid vehicles.

Following the preliminary investigation, the military’s chief of staff at the time, Herzi Halevi, removed two senior officers from their positions and reprimanded the head of the Southern Command, according to Haaretz.

A more comprehensive investigation carried out by the Israeli military police was published on Wednesday. It found that the organization had hired an armed security detail to protect the workers while they were transporting aid, and Israeli soldiers believed that Hamas operatives had taken control of the convoy and attacked it. Israeli officials attempted to contact the organization during the incident but were unsuccessful, the military’s report said. Based on these conclusions, the military prosecutor decided there was insufficient cause to open a criminal investigation.

WCK condemns Israeli decision

“We strongly condemn the Israeli military prosecutor’s account of the deaths of our seven colleagues on April 1, 2024, and we fundamentally disagree with their decision about criminal investigations into the IDF airstrikes that killed our team,” the group said in a statement issued Wednesday.

The group added, “There has never been any excuse or justification for the attacks, and there is nothing in this account that does so. The decision is inconsistent with the full truth and deeply offensive.”