Israel is defying the rules of war: Australian minister

By Zehra Nur Duz

Israel is flouting the rules of war and cannot use conflict as an excuse, an Australian minister said Thursday as her government demanded accountability for an airstrike that killed several aid workers in Gaza.

Justifying the Israeli strike on Monday, which claimed the lives of seven people working for the food charity World Central Kitchen (WCK), including Australian Lalzawmi "Zomi" Frankcom, as merely an accident of war is disrespectful to the victims, Minister for Youth Anne Aly told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

"It's offensive to Zomi, it is offensive to her family, it is offensive to the aid workers, the journalists, the medics who have been killed by Israeli forces and it is offensive to the 30,000 Palestinians who have been killed and starved by the actions of Israel,” Aly said.

Aly's statements came in response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's remarks, in which he acknowledged his government's responsibility for the incident but characterized it as "unintentional" and something that "happens in war.”

"This is not war. War has rules, rules that have been agreed upon by the international community. War has principles and war has standards of behavior that are expected of those who are acting in the war,” ABC quoted Aly as saying.

"If the Israeli government wants to continue to utilize war as a context for its actions, then it needs to start abiding by the expected principles of war and the agreed rules of war," she added.

Those killed in the Israeli strike were nationals of Australia, Poland, the UK and Palestine as well as a US-Canada dual citizen.

The WCK said it was pausing operations in the region following the attack.

The attack has sounded international alarm bells, with many condemning it and demanding a thorough investigation.

The convoy of workers from WCK, which was distributing food in Gaza, was struck due to a "misidentification," according to the Israeli military.

But that explanation has not satisfied senior Australian government officials.

Australia is awaiting the completion of the Israeli military's full investigation into Frankcom and the other aid workers’ deaths before deciding on possible actions.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack in early October by the Palestinian group Hamas killed around 1,200 people.

More than 33,000 Palestinians have since been killed and 75,577 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which last week asked it to do more to prevent famine in Gaza.