Israel dismisses 2 officers involved in deadly strike on aid workers, moves to open more aid routes

An Israeli inquiry into the killing of seven aid workers in an airstrike in Gaza this week found serious errors and breaches of procedure by the military, with the result that two officers have been dismissed and senior commanders formally reprimanded.

The inquiry found Israeli forces mistakenly believed they were attacking Hamas gunmen when drone strikes hit the three vehicles of the World Central Kitchen’s aid group, but that standard procedures had been violated.

“The strike on the aid vehicles is a grave mistake stemming from a serious failure due to a mistaken identification, errors in decision-making, and an attack contrary to the standard operating procedures,” the military said in a statement issued on Friday.

It said it had dismissed a brigade chief of staff with the rank of colonel and a brigade fire support officer with the rank of major, and issued formal reprimands to senior officers including the general at the head of the Southern Command.

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Among those killed in the strike was Canadian Armed Forces veteran Jacob Flickinger, a dual Canadian and U.S. citizen who had been in Gaza volunteering for World Central Kitchen.

The aid organization, led by celebrity chef José Andrés, welcomed the dismissals as “important steps” in a statement, but questioned the ability of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) to investigate itself. It has called for an independent commission to do so.

The WCK said it was “clear from their preliminary investigation that the IDF has deployed deadly force without regard to its own protocols, chain of command and rules of engagement.”

“Without systemic change, there will be more military failures, more apologies and more grieving families,” the organization said.

Many details on aid routes unclear

The White House demanded “concrete and measurable steps to reduce civilian harm” in the wake of the aid worker deaths, with U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking by phone on Thursday.

Hours later, Netanyahu ordered the reopening of the Erez crossing and the temporary use of Ashdod port in southern Israel to increase humanitarian aid supplies into Gaza. Increased access for Jordanian aid through the Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Gaza is also planned.

The announcement from the PM’s office did not elaborate on quantities or types of items to be let in.

Israeli officials previously rejected calls for more entry points into Gaza to be opened up.

With Gaza in ruins six months into war, most of the 2.3 million population have been forced from their homes and now depend on aid for survival during the holy month of Ramadan for Muslims.

“We had some hopes before Ramadan but that hope vanished the night before the fasting month began,” said 33-year-old Um Nasser Dahman, now living with her family of five in a tent camp in the southern city of Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s population is now sheltering.

“We used to be well enough off before the war but we’ve become dependent on what limited aid there is and our relatives,” she said, via messaging.

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‘The proof is in the results’

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday that Washington welcomes the Israeli move on aid, but that success would be measured in results in improving the situation on the ground.

“Really the proof is in the results, and we will see those unfold in the coming days, in the coming weeks,” Blinken said, speaking along EU leaders in Belgium.

Blinken said the U.S. will be “closely looking” at specific metrics such as the number of trucks making their way into the Gaza strip and the evolution of famine risks.

The war was launched after a Hamas-led attack in which more than 250 hostages were seized and some 1,200 people killed, by Israeli tallies. The dead included several Canadian citizens.

More than 250 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the start of the ground invasion, in addition to almost 350 who were killed on Oct. 7.

More than 33,091 Palestinians have been killed and 75,750 have been injured in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, the Gaza Health Ministry said in a statement on Friday. The ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its tally, but says women and children make up two-thirds of the dead.

The Israeli public has largely continued to support the war aims of destroying Hamas and bringing home 134 hostages still held in Gaza.

“I feel strongly that all those outside of Israel calling for a ceasefire do not understand the situation here,” said Wendy Carol, a 73 year-old writer and start-up founder from Jerusalem. “We’ve had so many incursions and invasions and we will stand as a democratic, Jewish country.”

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Nevertheless, she said: “I do not trust the prime minister. He is a divisive force in this nation and many, many people feel that way, of all backgrounds.”

Netanyahu himself faces a growing protest movement and demands for new elections, including from politicians such as Benny Gantz, the rival who is part of the current war cabinet.

Netanyahu’s Likud party said Gantz must “stop engaging in petty politics” during the war.

“Elections now will bring about paralysis, division, harm to the fighting in Rafah and a fatal blow to the chances of a hostage deal,” Likud said.

Israel slams UN resolution in Geneva

Meanwhile, the United Nations Human Rights Council on Friday adopted a resolution calling for Israel to be held accountable for possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip, although Israel dismissed it as a “distorted text.”

Twenty-eight countries voted in favour, 13 abstained and six opposed the resolution, including the United States and Germany. Canada is not currently a member of the council.

The resolution stressed “the need to ensure accountability for all violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in order to end impunity.”

It also expressed “grave concern at reports of serious human rights violations and grave breaches of international humanitarian law, including of possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”

Meirav Eilon Shahar, Israel’s permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva, accused the body of having “long abandoned the Israeli people and long defended Hamas.”

The U.S. did say that its ally Israel had not done enough to mitigate harm to civilians.