Australia has summoned Israel’s ambassador after the Israeli military decided not to open a criminal investigation into the killing of Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom and six colleagues in Gaza.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she was “outraged” by the outcome, which she described as falling well below the accountability Australia expected. Frankcom, who worked for World Central Kitchen, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on an aid convoy in April 2024.
Three British citizens, a Palestinian, a Polish national and a dual US-Canadian citizen also died in the attack. Wong said the Australian government learned of the decision late on Wednesday, adding that it was especially insulting because it came on World Humanitarian Day.
After meeting Israeli Ambassador Hillel Newman, Wong said major questions remained. She asked why two more strikes followed within minutes if the first strike had been a catastrophic error, and said the removal of two officers and reprimands issued to three others after an initial inquiry did not amount to sufficient accountability for the deaths of seven people.
Wong also said Australia had still not received drone audio from the attack despite its requests. The government would continue seeking justice for Frankcom and the other victims, she said.
Israeli military and World Central Kitchen respond
The Israel Defense Forces said an armed guard travelling with the convoy had not been reported before it departed and had been wrongly identified as a Hamas fighter. It also said the convoy had departed from the route coordinated with the military.
While acknowledging serious failures in the events leading to the deaths, the IDF said commanders’ decisions did not create a reasonable suspicion of criminal wrongdoing. Ambassador Newman said there had been no intention to kill civilians and therefore no criminal responsibility. He expressed sorrow and grief for the victims’ families but said he would not apologise because of what he described as legal ramifications.
World Central Kitchen rejected the military’s conclusion, saying it was inconsistent with the full truth. The organisation called for an independent inquiry, arguing that the IDF could not credibly investigate its own conduct. It said the military knew its Gaza team was unarmed, had clear visibility of the marked aid vehicles and had prior knowledge of the team’s movements, identities and work.
A report by former Australian defence force chief Mark Binskin in August 2024 found that serious procedural failures by the IDF had contributed to the killings. The Israeli military had previously described the strike as a grave mistake.
Source: BBC News
