2024-04-08 19:39:52
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 Hamas militants 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 IDF, 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.
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 in front of journalists video clips taken by a person they presented as a “Hamas member” who joined the procession of the “World Central Kitchen” organization, which is based in the United States, 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 roof, but Har Even said that the drone camera was unable to 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.
The war broke out in the Gaza Strip on October 7, and since then a bombing campaign has been carried out, followed by ground operations since October 27, causing the death of 33,037 Palestinians, the majority of whom are women and children, and wounding 75,668, according to what the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced on Thursday.
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2024-04-08 19:39:52