Israeli army chief sacks 2 senior army commanders over killing of aid workers in Gaza

By Ahmed Asmar

ANKARA (AA) - The Israeli army’s chief of general staff sacked two top army commanders Thursday who were linked to a deadly strike on a convoy of World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza.

Herzi Halevi dismissed the commander of the Nahal Brigade -- one of the army's main infantry brigades -- and another senior commander within the same brigade, according to Israel’s Channel 14.

Halevi issued an apology on Wednesday for the Israeli strike.

He said the incident occurred as a result of a "misidentification" that happened “during a war in very complex conditions.”

Many countries condemned the killing of the aid workers, including the US, which said it was "deeply troubled" by the incident.

On Tuesday, World Central Kitchen confirmed that seven of its aid workers had been killed in the Israeli strike.

They were nationals of Australia, Poland, the UK and Palestine as well as a US-Canadian dual citizen.

Despite coordinating movements with the Israeli army, the humanitarian organization said the convoy was hit as it was leaving a warehouse in the city of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, where the team had unloaded more than 100 tons of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza on a maritime route.