A special review into the death of Australian Zomi Frankcom and six World Kitchen aid workers has found the Israel Defence Forces’ strike was a result of “serious failures to follow procedures”.
Ms Frankcom was among seven staff at the World Central Kitchen (WCK) killed on April 1 while helping to deliver food and other supplies to northern Gaza.
The federal government ordered a review into Israel’s response to the strikes by special adviser Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin, which was published on Friday.
The former defence force chief found there was a “significant break down in situational awareness” and the deaths were a result of serious failures to follow IDF procedures.
However, he concluded the IDF strike on the aid workers was “not knowingly or deliberately directed” against the WCK.
His findings are consistent with the IDF’s assessment the incident was a “grave mistake”.
The report found it was likely the armed locally-contracted security for the WCK convoy, which was not notified or approved in the coordination process with the unit of Israeli government called the Coordination and Liaison Administration for Gaza (CLA), “gave the appearance of the presence of Hamas”.
The failure to ensure proper dissemination of coordination details of the WCK movements associated with the convoy and the inability for real time communications between the WCK personnel and the CLA led to the breakdown of situational awareness.
“It appears that the IDF controls failed, leading to errors in decision making and a misidentification, likely compounded by a level of confirmation bias,” Air Chief Marshal Binskin wrote.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the government accepted all seven recommendations made in the report and urged Israel to reform its coordination with humanitarian organisations.
“Israel’s process for determining accountability is not over,” Senator Wong told reporters on Friday.
“The military advocate general of Israel is still to decide on further action. That is a decision for her and for the Israeli judicial system. However, Australia’s expectation remains that this decision be transparent.”
Air Chief Marshal Binskin also recommended an “appropriate apology” be provided by the Israeli government to the families of the aid workers.
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