IDF ‘VIOLATED RULES OF ENGAGEMENT’
Military admits to series of ‘grave mistakes’ that resulted in deaths of seven aid workers but claims it was targeting ‘Hamas gunman’
Israel yesterday said it was targeting a “Hamas gunman” when it killed Gaza seven aid workers whose deaths caused an international outcry, with its military admitting a series of “grave mistakes” and violations of its own rules of engagement.
The victims – an Australian, Britons, a North American, a Palestinian and a Pole – were killed in three air strikes over four minutes by an Israeli drone as they ran for their lives between their three vehicles, the military said.
“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 Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said.
Poland’s foreign ministry said it still could not understand how such an incident occurred. It demanded a “criminal inquiry” into Monday’s events.
The drone team who killed the aid workers made an “operational misjudgment of the situation” after spotting a suspected Hamas gunman shooting from the top of one of the aid trucks they were escorting, an internal Israeli military inquiry found.
The military said it had dismissed a brigade chief of staff with the rank of colonel and a brigade fire support officer with the rank of major, and formally reprimanded senior officers, including the general at the head of the Southern Command.
Senior Israeli officers showed reporters clips from drone footage of what they said was a “Hamas operative” joining the US-based World Central Kitchen (WCK) convoy.
Although the roofs of the three aid workers’ vehicles were emblazoned with large WCK logos, retired Israeli general Yoav Har-Even, who is leading the investigation, said the drone’s camera could not see them in the dark. “This was a key factor in the chain of events,” he said.
The aid group has said its team was travelling in a “de-conflicted” area in a convoy of “two armoured cars branded with the WCK logo and a soft skin vehicle” at the time of the strike. “Despite coordinating movements with the [Israeli army], the convoy was hit as it was leaving the Deir al-Balah warehouse, where the team had unloaded more than 100 tonnes of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza on the maritime route,” WCK said.
The army said aid was moved at night to avoid the potential of deadly stampedes by hungry Gazans. Har-Even admitted that “the three air strikes were in violation of standard operating procedures”.
But he argued that “the state of mind” of the Israeli drone commanders “was that they were striking cars that had been seized by Hamas” after they confused a bag for a gun.
The aid workers were killed after they had overseen the unloading of a ship carrying 300 tonnes of food aid from Cyprus to a warehouse inland. But as they drove south at 11.09pm on April 1, the drone “struck one car, and identified people running out of the car and entering the second car”, General Har-Even said.
“They decided to hit it, which was against standard operating procedures. Then they struck the third car,” he said.
Asked by a reporter, the general was not able to explain what happened to the “Hamas gunman”.
“It is a tragedy. It is a serious mistake that we are responsible for,” Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari told reporters. “A mega event … that shouldn’t have happened. We will make sure it won’t happen again.”
Har-Even said it was a breakdown in communication and coordination about the convoy in the chain of military command which may have led to the strikes.
He said WCK had provided all the information necessary, but it was not passed down.
“The biggest mistake was that [the drone team] didn’t have the coordination plan,” he said. “Their belief was the vehicles were Hamas based on operational misjudgment and misclassification.”
The general briefed WFK founder, Spanish-born celebrity chef Jose Andres, early yesterday before information on the circumstances of the strikes were released. Andres had called the attack a “targeted Israeli strike”.
The aid workers’ deaths “outraged” US President Joe Biden who demanded Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu order steps towards an “immediate ceasefire” in a tense telephone call late on Thursday.
Israel later said it would allow “temporary” aid deliveries into northern Gaza, where the United Nations has warned of imminent famine.
It is a tragedy. It is a serious mistake we are responsible for. A mega event … that shouldn’t have happened. We will make sure it won’t happen again
MILITARY SPOKESMAN DANIEL HAGARI ON MONDAY NIGHT’S ISRAELI DRONE STRIKE THAT KILLED SEVEN AID WORKERS IN THE GAZA STRIP