Eyes on Israel in wake of killings
Australia has appointed a special adviser on Israel’s response to the strikes that killed aid worker Zomi Frankcom and six of her colleagues.
Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin, who served as chief of the defence force from 2014 to 2018, will engage with Israel and the Israel Defence Forces on the response to the attack last week, which killed the seven World Central Kitchen workers as they delivered aid in central Gaza.
Three vehicles, marked as belonging to the charity, were struck by Israeli drones on Monday when they travelled along a pre-approved route south of Deir al-Balah co-ordinated with the IDF.
The Australian government has demanded full accountability and transparency from Israel over the triple strike, and rebuked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over comments he made about such deaths happening in war.
Israel has since sacked two senior IDF members and reprimanded other officials.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Israel had not yet “satisfied” Australia’s expectations, and the appointment would help hold the IDF to account.
In a statement on Monday, Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said Mr Binskin would provide the government advice on the “sufficiency and appropriateness of the steps taken by the Israeli government”.
She said Australia had “made it clear” to the Israeli government the expectation and trust that this “engagement will be facilitated”.
She said he would examine arrangements for the investigation of the incident; IDF policies and procedures for operational incidents; measures taken to hold those responsible to account; if further investigation is warranted; and measures adopted to prevent such incidents happening again.
“The Australian government has been clear that we expect full accountability,” she said.