Israeli attack on NGO members was due to 'misidentification', report says

The Israeli Army's preliminary report concludes this Wednesday that The attack on the World Central Kitchen (WCK) humanitarian convoy, which killed 7 of its employees, was not “intended to harm humanitarian workers” and was due to “misidentification”.

“I want to be very clear: the attack was not carried out with the intention of harming WCK humanitarian workers. It was a failure due to a mistaken identification: at night, during a war, in very complex conditions. It should not have happened,” said Israeli Army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, presenting the preliminary conclusions of his investigation.

Halevi insisted that an “independent entity will investigate the incident exhaustively,” more accurate investigations that will be completed in the coming days, and promised that the Army “will learn from its conclusions, implement immediate measures and share those conclusions with WCK and other international organizations.” relevant”.

The military chief indicated that a “command center” has already been created to improve the way in which the distribution of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip is coordinated.hours after Defense Minister Yoav Gallant ordered it, and pledged to make greater efforts to protect humanitarian workers.

Nearly 200 humanitarian workers have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the war began, showing that The attack on the WCK convoy “is not an isolated incident,” denounced this Tuesday the UN humanitarian coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Jamie McGoldrick.

“We value the importance of the continued distribution of humanitarian aid and will do everything possible to continue facilitating this vital effort,” said Halevi, despite the fact that humanitarian agencies have repeatedly reproached him that Israel does not facilitate this work, since it refuses to opening more land routes, especially to the north – where famine is a reality – that speed up distribution and does not guarantee the security of the convoys, which suffer continuous attacks.

“This incident was a serious mistake. Israel is at war with Hamas, not with the people in Gaza. We apologize for the unintentional harm to the members of WCK,” said the chief of staff.

An Israeli drone fired three times at a WCK convoy in the city of Deir al Balah, in the center of the enclave, despite the fact that the cars were clearly marked with the organization's logo, an attack in which four foreigners died. and three Palestinians, according to details of the attack obtained exclusively by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

A first missile hit the car leading the convoy, and the survivors ran for cover to the next vehicle, which was also attacked by another missile seconds later. A third vehicle approached to help them and was hit again, the newspaper revealed.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was the first to admit this Tuesday Israel's responsibility for that “unintentional” attack, and President Isaac Herzog called Spanish chef José Andrés, director and founder of WCK, last night to apologize for the incident. .

The Army has commissioned an independent investigation to the Fact Investigation and Assessment Mechanism (FFAM), a body led by a major general, charged with providing as much information as possible to decide whether to open a criminal investigation into incidents in combat.

The bodies of the six foreign humanitarian workers from the NGO World Central Kitchen (WCK) will be repatriated this Wednesday from the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing, as confirmed by Marwan Al-Hams, director of the Abu Youssef Al-Najjar hospital where they were moved.

Among the foreign aid workers are three Britons, a Pole, an Australian and an American-Canadian; A Palestinian colleague was traveling with them.

The NGO World Central Kitchen (WCK) was founded in 2010 by Spanish chef José Andrés.

For his part, Pope Francis expressed his “deep bitterness” for the seven murdered WCK employees and reiterated their requests for “an immediate ceasefire in the Strip”, in the general audience on Wednesdays.

“Unfortunately, sad news continues to arrive from the Middle East. I once again renew my firm request for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip,” the pontiff said before the tens of thousands of faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square to listen to him.

“I express my deep bitterness for the volunteers killed while they were engaged in the distribution of aid” in Gaza and “I pray for them and their families,” added the pope, who appeared in good shape and read his catechism with a clear voice.