The Israeli military has handed Australia a report into the killing of Melbourne-born aid worker Lalzawmi “Zomi” Frankcom and six other foreigners in Gaza.
Israeli Defence Force (IDF) spokesperson Peter Lerner said the result of the full investigation will be made public within 24 hours, while the ambassadors of the relevant nations have also received the report.
A presentation will be made to the World Central Kitchen—the food charity the aid workers were working for—on April 6.
Ms. Frankom, along with six other aid workers from UK, Poland, Canada, and a Palestinian driver, were delivering food in Gaza when an Israeli drone strike hit their convoy on April 1, local time.
Amid mounting criticism from the Australian government, Mr. Lerner said the incident was a case of “mistaken identification.”
He told ABC Radio National on April 5 that the death of aid workers “happens in every war, unfortunately, around the world wherever you are.”
“We have to be better than that, we have to do better, and I think that is our message,” he said.“We need to make sure that when people that are coming to do good … they need to be able to work safely.”
As the family of Ms. Frankcom called for a war crimes investigation into the Israeli military’s conduct, the IDF spokesperson said he expected the individual military members responsible for the air strike to face consequences.
“Perhaps even criminal charges if there’s been a very dire mistake,” he said.
“I don’t know the outcome, but if that is the situation, I would expect nothing less.”
The IDF has previously said that the attack stemmed from poor field discipline rather than a lack of coordination. But Haaretz, an Israel media outlet, reported that one of the military sources said the command “knows exactly what the cause of the attack was—in Gaza, everyone does as he pleases.”
It was reported that the military was trying to hit a terrorist who was travelling with the World Central Kitchen convoy, but in the end, the units launched the air strike “without any preparation.”
Mr. Lerner said investigators were provided with full access to all of the information, including the operational details and intelligence.
He wouldn’t confirm if footage of the deadly air strike would be made public.
Albanese Demands Accountability
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the IDF has “accepted their responsibility for this tragic event,” but Australia wanted full accountability for what occurred.“And what isn’t good enough is the statements that have been made, including that this is ‘just a product of war’. This is against humanitarian law,” he said on April 4.
“International humanitarian law makes it very clear that aid workers should be able to provide that aid and that assistance free of the threat of losing their life.”
World Central Kitchen founder Jose Andres said the attack was launched “systematically, car by car.”
“This was not a bad luck situation where ‘oops’ we dropped the bomb in the wrong place,’” Mr. Andres said on April 4.
Ms. Frankcom’s family told Nine News that they supported a war crimes investigation and the laying of charges if they were justified.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton expressed his condolences to Ms. Frankcom’s family but maintained that the deaths of innocents ultimately stemmed from Hamas.
“It’s a tragic circumstance,” he told reporters.
“The consequences we see, where innocent people are losing their lives in the Middle East, are a direct result of Hamas’s attacks on the 7th of October.”
