UK, Canada, Australia slam Israel ending probe into World Central Kitchen strike that killed 7

Britain, Canada and Australia condemn as “shameful” Israel’s decision to close an investigation into the deaths of seven aid workers killed in Gaza in 2024.

The World Central Kitchen employees — three Britons, a dual US-Canadian national, a Pole, an Australian and a Palestinian — died in a drone strike on their vehicle convoy after overseeing the unloading of a food aid shipment.

Israel’s military called the incident a “tragic mistake.”

“In the more than two years since, we have been pressing for Israel to swiftly and thoroughly consider the case and hold those responsible to account,” the three nations say in a joint statement. The IDF’s announcement “that it would not pursue criminal investigations into this strike, without further explanation, is shameful,” it says.

The incident sparked global outrage and renewed calls to ensure the safety of aid workers in Gaza.

“Announcing this decision on World Humanitarian Day, while the world honored the courage and sacrifice of humanitarians, was particularly egregious,” the joint statement adds.

On April 1, 2024, Israeli forces ordered a strike on a convoy of WCK vehicles that officers suspected carried a Hamas gunman, despite a low level of confidence in the assessment and against army regulations. The strike left seven humanitarian workers dead.

The forces did not identify the vehicles as belonging to WCK when the strike was ordered, according to the investigation.

The investigation found that WCK had hired an armed security force to accompany the convoy to protect it from looting, a move that had not been coordinated with the army.

“After examining all the findings of the factual assessment, it was decided that despite failures in the process of forming the assessment that Hamas operatives were traveling in the vehicles, it was found that the commanders’ decisions did not cross the criminal threshold, in light of the sequence of suspicious signs and the overall operational circumstances,” the IDF said.

The US-based World Central Kitchen also condemns the decision, calling it “inconsistent with the full truth and deeply offensive.”

It demands an independent commission to investigate the airstrikes “because the IDF cannot credibly investigate its own conduct.”

Yesterday, Australia expressed outrage at the closure of the investigation and summoned Israel’s ambassador to the country.