Gaza, Israel | Israel’s defense chief: Attack on aid workers was due to mistaken identity

Halevi announced the results of the initial investigation into the case on Wednesday. He calls the incident “a serious mistake”.

– It was a mistake that came from a misidentification at night in a war under very difficult conditions. That shouldn’t have happened, says the defense chief.

Independent investigation

He gave no further information about the investigation, but says that an independent body will carry out a thorough investigation, which will be concluded in the coming days.

Earlier, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that the aid workers lost their lives in an accidental attack by Israel.

World Central Kitchen (WCK) has confirmed that seven of its employees, including the Palestinian driver, were killed in an Israeli attack on Deir al-Balah. The organization was in the process of shipping out 100 tonnes of emergency aid to starving Palestinians.

Had logo on

– Despite the fact that it was coordinated with the Israeli military, the column was hit when it drove out of the warehouse in Deir al-Balah, says a message from WCK.

The organization states that their people were in two armored vehicles with WCK’s logo and a passenger car, in an allegedly conflict-free area.

The WCK employees killed are three Britons, one Australian, one from Poland and one with dual US and Canadian citizenship. In addition, the Palestinian driver.

– Unacceptable

Leaders worldwide have demanded an investigation into the incident. Norway’s Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide (Ap) describes the attack as “unacceptable” and demands that Israel’s warfare in the Gaza Strip follow the rules of war.

– Israel’s violent and extensive military operations in Gaza have led to enormous damage to the civilian population, including children, the sick and aid workers. Norway has been clear that parts of the warfare are not in line with the international law of war, he says.

WCK states that they are suspending all work in Gaza until further notice as a result of the attack. An official in Cyprus says that ships carrying emergency aid that had arrived in Gaza are turning around and heading back to Cyprus without unloading the 240 tons of food aid still on board.

Aid workers killed

WCK was founded in 2010 when Andrés, a Spanish-American chef and restaurant owner, sent cooks and food to earthquake-stricken Haiti. Since the start of the invasion of the Gaza Strip, WCK has delivered over 42 million meals.

WCK is not the only aid organization that has lost employees in the war on the Gaza Strip. According to UNRWA, 174 of their employees have been killed since the outbreak of war on 7 October last year.

At least 32,916 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have been killed since the war in Gaza began when Hamas attacked Israel and killed nearly 1,200 Israelis. 250 others were taken hostage, and around 100 are still held captive by Hamas.