Abdel Kareem Hana/AP
Seven aid workers were killed in Monday's attack.
CNN
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The Israel Defense Forces has fired two senior officers and reprimanded its top commander after admitting a series of failures in a drone attack on a Gaza aid convoy, including killing aid workers who survived the initial attack.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Friday that “those authorizing the attack were convinced that they were targeting armed Hamas operatives,” calling the attack “a major failure resulting from a serious failure due to misperception.” It was a mistake.''
The statement said the airstrike was carried out in “serious violation of command and IDF Standard Operating Procedures” and that the major and reserve colonel had been fired. Three other IDF personnel were also formally disciplined. the commanders of the brigades and divisions involved, and the Confederate commander, who had “overall responsibility.”
The drone pilots who carried out the killing were not informed about the humanitarian operations by higher-ups, citing “internal failures that prevented critical information about humanitarian operations from being properly passed up the chain of command.'' IDF spokesman Maj. Gen. Daniel Hagari said Friday.
Monday's strike against vehicles operated by World Central Kitchen (WCK) killed three British, one Palestinian, one dual US-Canadian citizen, one Australian and one Polish aid worker. Seven people were killed, sparking outrage in these countries.
In its preliminary findings, the IDF detailed a series of failures in assessment and decision-making that led to targeted attacks on three vehicles carrying innocent aid workers.
The Israel Defense Forces said it “identified the gunman who was in one of the aid trucks and later identified additional gunmen” as the truck was transporting food to a warehouse in the Gaza Strip. Details regarding this claim have not been disclosed.
Later, as the three WCK vehicles left the warehouse, the commander “incorrectly assumed that armed men were in the accompanying vehicles and that they were Hamas terrorists,” the report said.
The IDF officers involved “misidentified something slung over the passenger's shoulder as a weapon,” but the military now believes it was a bag, an IDF spokesperson told CNN on Friday. Ta.
The spokesperson also said that Israeli surveillance drones “could not see the WCK logo on the vehicle at night.”
Some WCK personnel in the first vehicle survived the initial strike and fled to the next vehicle in the convoy, which was also targeted, the spokesperson added.
The WCK and many Western leaders have called for an independent, third-party investigation into the attack, but Israel has committed only to an internal investigation announced Friday.
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Although it included an unusual admission of guilt by the Israeli military, Friday's statement from the Israel Defense Forces was brief and lacked a precise explanation of how and why the order had been violated.
It is unlikely to be the final word on the deadly attack, which has intensified Western anger over Israel's actions in Gaza and fueled debate in several countries about whether military aid to Israel should be halted. .
“The IDF is unable to credibly investigate its own failures in Gaza,” the WCK said Friday following preliminary findings. “If we don't change the system, there will be more military failures, more apologies, and more families grieving.”
“It is clear from the preliminary investigation that the Israel Defense Forces deployed deadly force in disregard of its own procedures, chain of command, and rules of engagement,” the charity said.
“Their apology for the brutal killing of their colleagues represents cold comfort,” said WCK CEO Erin Gore. “This is cold comfort to the victims' families and the global WCK family.”
US President Joe Biden said in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday that the deaths of aid workers and the overall humanitarian situation in Gaza are “unacceptable” and that US aid is “not going to civilians.” “This depends on measurable measures to address human suffering, humanitarian suffering and harm.” and the safety of aid workers. ”
On Friday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who himself has called for an independent investigation, said the US was considering the Israeli report “very carefully.”
“It is very important that Israel takes full responsibility for this incident. It is also important that it appears to be taking steps to hold those responsible accountable,” he said. We will definitely take measures in the future to prevent this from happening again.”
