The IDF said Friday that it has dismissed two officers and reprimanded three others for their roles in drone strikes in Gaza that killed seven aid workers on a food-delivery mission, saying they had mishandled critical information and violated the army's rules of engagement.
"It's a tragedy," the military's spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, told reporters. "It's a serious event that we are responsible for and it shouldn't have happened and we will make sure that it won't happen again."
The conclusion of the investigation regarding the incident in which @WCKitchen employees were mistakingly targeted by IDF forces was presented to IDF Chief of the General Staff LTG Herzi Halevi yesterday.
Measures taken following the tragic incident include: the dismissal of the… pic.twitter.com/mw4U8gjA71
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) April 5, 2024
According to what spokespeople said were the Israeli army's rules, targets must be visually identified as threats for multiple reasons before they can be hit. But the investigation determined that a colonel had authorized the series of deadly drone strikes on the convoy based on one major's observation — from grainy drone-camera footage — that someone in the convoy was armed. That observation turned out to be untrue, military officials said.
The army said the colonel and the major were dismissed, while three other officers were reprimanded. It said the results of its investigation were turned over to the military's advocate general, who will decide whether the officers or anyone else involved in the killings should receive further punishment or be prosecuted.
The killings were condemned by Israel's closest allies and renewed criticism of Israel's conduct in the nearly 6-month-old war with Hamas.
The aid workers were three British citizens, a Polish citizen, an Australian and a Canadian American dual citizen, all of whom worked for World Central Kitchen, the international charity founded by celebrity chef José Andrés. Their Palestinian driver also was killed.
The investigation found two major areas of wrongdoing.
It faulted officers for failing to read messages alerting troops that cars, not aid trucks, would carry workers from the charity away from the warehouse where aid was distributed. As a result, the cars that were targeted were misidentified as transporting militants.
The army also faulted a major who identified the strike target and a colonel who approved the strike for acting with insufficient information.
The army said the order was given after one of the passengers inside a car was identified as a gunman. It said troops became suspicious because a gunman had been seen on the roof of one of the delivery trucks on the way to the warehouse. The army showed reporters footage of the gunman firing his weapon while riding atop one of the trucks.
After the aid was dropped off at a warehouse, an officer believed he had spotted a gunman in one of the cars. The passenger, it turned out, was not carrying a weapon.
