Australia has summoned Israel’s ambassador and condemned the Israeli military’s decision not to pursue criminal charges over the deaths of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers, including Australian Zomi Frankcom, in a 2024 airstrike in Gaza.
The Israeli military said yesterday that a fact-finding and assessment process had uncovered no grounds for a criminal investigation into the killings.
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“This decision falls far short of the accountability we expect,” Foreign Minister Penny Wong said, describing the outcome as outrageous.
“Democracies seek, and accept higher standards. The Australian government will not stop pressing Israel for justice for Zomi and her colleagues.”
Lalzawmi “Zomi” Frankcom was one of seven aid workers killed by an Israeli airstrike in 2024
The strike triggered widespread condemnation from the United States and several allies. Those killed included citizens of Britain and Poland, Palestinians, and a dual US-Canadian national.
Hillel Newman, Israel’s ambassador to Australia, said the inquiry had found no criminal liability among the soldiers involved, while acknowledging operational failures by the Israeli military.
“It was a mistake, in retrospect, but the findings of the court are that there was no criminal intention, no intention to hit at aid workers, and therefore no criminal responsibility,” Mr Newman told reporters in Canberra after meeting Ms Wong.
Mr Newman said the aid convoy had strayed from a route approved in advance and may have included armed personnel. Those circumstances, he said, led Israeli forces to believe Hamas militants had seized control of the vehicles.
More than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since the Gaza war began in 2023, while thousands more have died during Israeli military operations in southern Lebanon. Aid workers, doctors, journalists and other civilians are among the dead.
Israel’s military says its operations are directed at Hamas and Hezbollah militants and that it launches investigations into some strikes in which civilians are killed.
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