Israel finally admits it made a "grave mistake" killing seven aid workers from World Central Kitchen

By lauraharris // 2024-04-09

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The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) has finally admitted that it made a "grave mistake" after its drones killed seven multinational aid workers from the World Central Kitchen (WCK) in a targeted air strike in Northern Gaza. On April 1, the WCK, a renowned disaster relief nonprofit that provides food aid to disaster-stricken and war-torn parts of the world, deployed seven multinational aid workers in Gaza to deliver a new shipment of food. The aid workers, including three British nationals, one Palestinian, one Australian, one Polish and one American-Canadian citizen, were leaving the deconflicted zone in their three-car convoy marked with the WCK logo on the roofs when three consecutive IDF air strikes hit and killed them. Graphic footage from the scene displayed the harrowing aftermath of the strike, with the bodies of the aid workers, some still wearing WCK shirts. Initially, the IDF defended its actions by blaming Hamas. But reports claimed that the IDF reportedly targeted the convoy under the belief that a member of Hamas was among the group. However, on April 5, Yoav Har-Even, a retired military officer who led the investigation, said the IDF military drones could not recognize the WCK logos at night. That's another way of saying that the strikes were a "grave mistake" and a "breach of the army's standard operating procedures." "The forces that conducted the strike did not know they were striking WCK vehicles," Har-Even said. "They were convinced that they were targeting Hamas operatives in vehicles." Moreover, the IDF revealed the dismissal of two officers and the formal reprimand of two others, including the commander of the IDF's Southern Command, following Al Jazeera's Sanaad verification agency investigation suggested that, based on open-source information and witness testimonies, the strikes on the WCK vehicles were intentional. "Images taken from the bombing sites show that the vehicles were clearly marked on their roofs and windshields as belonging to WCK, indicating that they were in compliance and there had been prior coordination between WCK and the Israeli army about the movements. Analysis of images of the second and third targeted vehicles showed signs of a projectile entering from the top and exiting through the bottom, suggesting that the cars were targeted from the air," Al Jazeera reported.

WCK executives condemn the IDF once again and demand an independent investigation

In response to the investigation, the WCK demanded an independent commission to probe the killings amid doubts over the credibility of the IDF's ability to investigate itself for its actions. "We demand the creation of an independent commission to investigate the killings of our WCK colleagues. The IDF cannot credibly investigate its own failure in Gaza," the organization wrote on its official website on Apr. 6. (Related: World outraged as Israeli airstrike KILLS 7 multinational aid workers in Gaza.) Erin Gore, the CEO of WCK, also criticized the apologies from the IDF. He argued that the IDF offered "cold comfort" to the victims' families and the global WCK community. "Their apologies for the outrageous killing of our colleagues represent cold comfort,” said 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." Furthermore, Jose Andres, a celebrity chef and the founder of WCK, argued that the IDF should understand that avoiding further humanitarian deaths is not enough. "It’s not enough to simply try to avoid further humanitarian deaths, which have now approached close to 200," said Andrés. "All civilians need to be protected, and all innocent people in Gaza need to be fed and safe. And all hostages must be released." Visit IsraelCollapse.com for more stories about the ongoing conflict in Israel. Watch this report about the humanitarian crisis in Northern Gaza. This video is from the Contrarian channel on Brighteon.com.

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WCK executives condemn the IDF once again and demand an independent investigation

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