US is reviewing Israeli investigation into killing of WCK air workers: Blinken

By Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US said on Friday that it has received Israel's report concerning the killing of World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers in an Israeli strike in Gaza and is currently reviewing it "very carefully."

“We’ll be discussing its conclusions with Israeli officials and with humanitarian organizations in the days to come,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in Brussels.

“It’s very important that Israel is taking full responsibility for this incident. It’s also important that it appears to be taking steps to hold those responsible accountable,” he said, adding that more important is making sure that “something like this can never happen again.”

“Prime Minister Netanyahu indicated to President Biden that Israel would be making further changes to its procedures to make sure that those who are providing assistance to people who so desperately need it in Gaza are protected,” he said. “So we’re going to be looking very carefully at what those steps are, how it achieves better deconfliction, better coordination, so that aid workers are protected.”

Blinken stressed that as Israel pursues any military operations against Hamas, it has to prioritize the protection of civilians.

“Their safety has to be a priority, and military operations need to be designed around their protection, not the other way around,” he said, adding that the US looks to see “not just what steps are being taken but the results that follow from them.”

The Israeli military announced Friday that it fire two officers and reprimanded three others following an investigation into the Israeli strikes in Gaza that killed seven aid workers from the World Central Kitchen (WCK), saying the attack was a “serious mistake.”

Meanwhile, WCK on Friday demanded the creation of an independent commission to investigate the killings of its aid workers, adding that Israel “cannot credibly investigate its own failure in Gaza.”