Two Israeli soldiers have been fired and senior Israeli army commanders have been reprimanded after an investigation into the killing of seven aid workers in an airstrike in Gaza earlier this week found serious errors and procedural violations by of the military, reported Reuters, quoted by BTA.
The investigation revealed that Israeli forces mistakenly believed they were attacking Hamas gunmen when they carried out a drone strike on three vehicles belonging to the NGO World Central Kitchen. and violated standard procedures.
„The strike against the humanitarian aid vehicles was a serious mistake resulting from a serious failure due to misidentification and faulty decision-making, and was an attack contrary to standard operating procedures,” the military said in a statement , published today.
They said they had fired a brigadier with the rank of colonel and a brigade military officer with the rank of major, and had issued formal reprimands to senior officials, including the general in charge of the Southern Command.
AFP earlier quoted the team that operated the drones that carried out the strikes as admitting they had made an "operational error in assessing the situation" after spotting a "Hamas gunner" to shoot from the roof of one of the trucks with humanitarian aid that the collaborators of the American non-governmental organization “World Central Kitchen” escorted.
Attacks against aid workers could amount to a war crime, the UN Human Rights Office said today.
„Attacking people or facilities working to deliver humanitarian aid can amount to a war crime,” said Jeremy Lawrence, a spokesman for the UN Human Rights Office. “As the High Commissioner has repeatedly stated, impunity must end,” he added.
„The Israeli airstrikes that killed the staff of the World Central Kitchen highlight the appalling conditions under which aid workers in Gaza work, Lawrence said.
„International law requires all countries to respect and protect humanitarian workers and ensure their safety, security and freedom of movement,” he added.
Lawrence said the suspension of deliveries and distribution of food aid by NGOs, including the World Central Kitchen, after the killings increased the "already real risk of more deaths from starvation and disease in a larger scale“.
Meanwhile, Poland's Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Scheyna said Israel's ambassador to Warsaw, Yakov Livne, had apologized over the Israeli airstrike. One of the aid workers killed was a Polish citizen. Yakov Livne caused outrage in Poland when he stated in "Ex" that "far-right and far-left" in Poland accuse Israel of deliberate killings and added that "anti-Semites will always remain so. Yesterday, Polish President Andrzej Duda said the ambassador's comment about the strike was “outrageous” and pointed out that he worsens relations between Warsaw and Tel Aviv, Reuters recalls.