World Central Kitchen demands independent probe into Israeli killing of its aid workers

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - World Central Kitchen (WCK) on Friday demanded the creation of an independent commission to investigate the killings of its aid workers by Israel in the Gaza Strip.

"The IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) cannot credibly investigate its own failure in Gaza," the WCK said in a statement.

The April 1 attack killed seven aid workers – three British nationals, an Australian, a Polish national, a US-Canadian dual citizen, and a Palestinian.

It has triggered strong condemnation around the globe and calls for accountability, with many, including WCK founder Jose Andres, disputing Israel’s claim that the attack was a “mistake” and a case of “misidentification.”

Regarding the preliminary investigation of the Israeli army, the WCK said it is important steps that the army acknowledged its responsibility and its "fatal errors" in the deadly attack on the convoy in Gaza, and took disciplinary action against those in command and committed to other reforms.

"However it is also clear from their preliminary investigation that the IDF has deployed deadly force without regard to its own protocols, chain of command and rules of engagement.

"The IDF has acknowledged that our teams followed all proper communications procedures. The IDF’s own video fails to show any cause to fire on our personnel convoy, which carried no weapons and posed no threat," it added.

- Systemic change needed

The US-based charity stressed that without systemic change, there will be "more military failures, more apologies and more grieving families."

Stressing that all civilians need to be protected, Andres said it is not enough to simply try to avoid further humanitarian deaths, which have now approached close to 200.

WCK CEO Erin Gore, for her part, said the Israeli army's apologies for the "outrageous killing of our colleagues represent cold comfort."

"It’s cold comfort for the victims’ families and WCK’s global family. Israel needs to take concrete steps to assure the safety of humanitarian aid workers," Gore added, stressing their operations remain suspended.

Flouting the International Court of Justice’s provisional ruling, Israel continues its onslaught on the Gaza Strip where at least 33,091 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and 75,750 injured since Oct. 7, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas, which Tel Aviv says killed nearly 1,200 people.

The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory'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 stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.