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Israel’s military has fired two senior officers after concluding Monday’s attack that killed seven food aid workers in Gaza was in “serious violation” of its commands.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Friday that “those who approved the strike were convinced that they were targeting armed Hamas operatives,” calling the attack “a grave mistake stemming from a serious failure due to a mistaken identification.”
It said the strike was carried out in “serious violation of the commands and IDF Standard Operating Procedures,” and dismissed a major and a colonel in reserve. Three other IDF officials were formally reprimanded; the commanders of the brigade and division involved, and the commander of the Southern Command, who bore “overall responsibility.”
Seven aid workers – three Britons, a Palestinian, a US-Canadian dual citizen, an Australian and a Pole – were killed in Monday’s strikes on cars operated by the World Central Kitchen (WCK), setting off fury in those countries.
The IDF detailed in its preliminary findings a series of botched assessments and decision-making failures that led to the targeted strikes on three cars carrying innocent aid workers.
Its forces “identified a gunman on one of the aid trucks, following which they identified an additional gunman,” the IDF said, as the trucks transported food to a warehouse in Gaza.
