The Israeli army announced on Friday that it was targeting a “Hamas militant” when it killed seven humanitarian workers in the Gaza Strip, and acknowledged that it had committed a series of “serious mistakes” and violations of its own laws.
The seven workers were killed in three raids within four minutes by an Israeli march, while they were fleeing from one car to another, according to what the army said, which indicated in a statement “an operational error in assessing the situation” after spotting an armed man suspected of being from the Hamas movement, which is classified as a terrorist organization in the United States and other countries. Other.
The Israeli bombing sparked international condemnation, and the Israeli army launched an internal investigation, the results of which were reported today, and concluded with a decision to dismiss two officers and officially reprimand senior commanders.
According to the investigation, Israeli forces mistakenly believed they were bombing vehicles carrying militants from the Hamas movement when the drones bombed the three vehicles belonging to the “Global Central Kitchen” organization.
A commander assumed that Hamas militants were in the Global Central Kitchen vehicles that were targeted by an airstrike, and the raids on the three vehicles were carried out in serious violation of orders and standard operating procedures of the Israeli army, according to the statement.
The Israeli army said that the investigation into the killing of the aid workers found that there had been a mistake in identity, as well as errors in decision-making
According to the Israeli army statement, senior officers, including the commander of the Southern Command, will be reprimanded, while the commander of the Fire Support Battalion, with the rank of major, and the chief of staff of the battalion, with the rank of colonel, will be dismissed.
What is behind the “fatal mistakes” committed by the Israeli army in Gaza?
A three-vehicle convoy was transporting workers from the World Central Kitchen organization along the coastal road in the Gaza Strip on Monday evening. At the same time, an Israeli military drone identified the convoy as “enemy forces.” The aircraft’s operators identified the convoy as a hostile target and opened fire. fire.
Retired General Yoav Har-Even, who is leading the investigation, said, “The two officers, a colonel and a major, who ordered the bombing were fired.”
Israeli officers broadcast to journalists video clips taken by a person they presented as a “Hamas member” who joined the procession of the United States-based World Central Kitchen organization, according to what Agence France-Presse reported.
The convoy was transporting aid to the northern Gaza Strip, and was bombed in Deir al-Balah in the center of the Strip.
The three cars had the “organization’s logo” on their roofs, but Har Even said that the drone camera could not see the logo due to the darkness. “This was an essential element in the sequence of events,” he said.
The organization’s team of workers includes an Australian, a Polish, an American-Canadian, three Britons, and a Palestinian.
For his part, Andrzej Segna, Polish Deputy Foreign Minister, said on Friday that the Israeli ambassador to Poland apologized for the killing of a Polish aid worker in an air strike launched by Israel on Gaza this week.
Cigna stated that Poland will not expel the Israeli ambassador, Yaakov Livni.
Relief organizations hold Israel responsible for its protection in Gaza
International relief organizations said on Thursday that they could not do more to protect their employees in the Gaza Strip and that the responsibility to avoid killing them falls on Israel, at a time when the United Nations called for direct humanitarian coordination with the Israeli army.
The war broke out in the Gaza Strip following the unprecedented Hamas attack on October 7, which killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, including women and children, according to the Israeli authorities.
In response to the attack, Israel pledged to “eliminate the movement,” and has since carried out a bombing campaign followed by ground operations since October 27, killing 33,037 Palestinians, the majority of whom are women and children, and wounding 75,668, according to what the Hamas Ministry of Health announced on Thursday.
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2024-04-05 10:55:30
