The Israeli military released the results of an investigation into its unintentional missile strikes on seven World Central Kitchen employees in Gaza, concluding that the incident “should not have occurred” and dismissing two officers who were involved in the botched operation.
“Those who approved the strike were convinced that they were targeting armed Hamas operatives and not WCK employees,” the Israel Defense Forces said Friday in a statement. “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.”
The seven humanitarian aid workers were traveling in three vehicles clearly marked with the charity’s logo along a protected route in central Gaza until their convoy was struck by Israeli missiles Monday night. The IDF said its forces “mistakenly assumed” there were two Hamas terrorists inside the aid trucks and proceeded accordingly. Israeli airstrike operators “did not identify the vehicles in question as being associated with WCK,” the military said.
The charity organization, which provides food relief during humanitarian crises, has temporarily suspended its operations in light of the tragedy.
In the aftermath of the strikes, World Central Kitchen founder José Andrés has accused Israel of targeting his employees “systematically, car by car.”
“This was not just a bad luck situation where ‘oops’ we dropped the bomb in the wrong place,” the celebrity chef told Reuters. “What I know is that we were targeted deliberately nonstop until everybody was dead in this convoy.”
Israel has denied the allegations, while sincerely apologizing for the incident. “That’s absurd,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s foreign policy adviser Ophir Falk told ABC News on Wednesday. “The last thing we would want in the world is to endanger civilian lives.”
“This war is a complex war,” he added. “The incident happened in the middle of the night. It should not have happened. And we’ll do everything possible that it doesn’t happen again.”
In response to the investigation’s findings, World Central Kitchen said the Israeli preliminary investigation was an important step but called for an independent commission to conduct a separate investigation into the deaths of its workers.
“It’s not enough to simply try to avoid further humanitarian deaths, which have now approached close to 200,” Andrés said Friday in a statement. “All civilians need to be protected, and all innocent people in Gaza need to be fed and safe. And all hostages must be released.”
“Their apologies for the outrageous killing of our colleagues represent cold comfort,” said WCK CEO Erin Gore. “It’s cold comfort for the victims’ families and WCK’s global family. Israel needs to take concrete steps to assure the safety of humanitarian aid workers. Our operations remain suspended.”
Following the investigation, two officers will be dismissed from their positions and two commanders will be formally reprimanded. Punishment has already been doled out to another commander, who was the leading officer responsible for the incident.
The IDF offered its condolences to World Central Kitchen and the victims’ families. “The IDF will learn the lessons of the incident and will incorporate them into the IDF’s ongoing operations,” the military said.