The Israeli army reiterated on Friday, April 5, that The death in a bombing of seven humanitarian workers from the American NGO World Central Kitchen (WCK) in Gaza was a “serious mistake.”
The organization, founded by well-known Spanish chef José Andrés, said seven of its workers — three Britons, an Australian, a Pole, a Canadian-American and a Palestinian — were killed in a “targeted Israeli attack.” designated, once morest his convoy on Monday night, April 1.
The team in charge of the drones that bombed the vehicles committed “an operational error of assessment of the situation”, following having seen an alleged “Hamas gunman” shoot from the roof of one of the trucks in the convoy of the American NGO World Central Kitchen (WCK), according to an internal army investigation.
The military, which recognizes “violations of normal operating procedures,” also He admitted that WCK had communicated its route map, but the military in charge of the attack did not have it.
At a press conference at army headquarters in Tel Aviv, senior military commanders presented journalists with drone video footage showing the “Hamas agent” in the WCK convoy, which was circulating through central Gaza at around 10:00 p.m. local on Monday, April 1.
There were large WCK logos on top of the vehicles, but the drone camera might not see them in the dark, said retired general Yoav Har-Even, who is leading the investigation.
“This was a key factor in the succession of events,” he said.
Those who approved the three bombings of the convoy “were convinced that they targeted armed Hamas agents, and not WCK employees,” the army said in a statement.
Retired General Har-Even spoke of a confusion, which led military officials to think that the vehicles of the humanitarian convoy “had been intercepted by Hamas.”
Two officers involved in the incident, a reserve colonel and an active commander, will be dismissed from their duties, according to General Har-Even’s report.
The NGO, founded by Spanish chef José Andrés, called for an independent investigative commission. The Israeli military “cannot credibly investigate its own failure,” he warned.
The death of the aid workers caused a wave of indignation. In a tense telephone conversation, US President Joe Biden urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, April 4, to order an “immediate ceasefire.”
The aid workers died following supervising the unloading of a ship with 300 tons of food aid, which arrived from Cyprus, to a warehouse located on land in the Gaza Strip.
This is the Israeli army’s version of how the events occurred
10:00 p.m.: the convoy leaves the pier
The 300 tons of WCK food aboard a ship from Cyprus was unloaded at a dock near Deir al Balah in central Gaza. The area was guarded by the Israeli army.
The operation had to be carried out over four nights, according to the army, and the shipment had to be moved to the warehouse inside the territory at night, to avoid “stampedes” of hungry people, which have already caused several deaths in Gaza.
It was the second time that the organization managed to take a ship with supplies from Cyprus to the pier.
WCK gave the army all the coordinates of its vehicles and their route.
22H28: vehicles and an “armed man” join the convoy
The convoy of eight trucks drove for 20 minutes along the coastal highway towards the south and at 10:28 p.m. four WCK vehicles joined it, near an NGO center. All four cars bore the WCK logo on the top, but “the (drone) operator might not see it in the dark,” the Israeli military insisted.
It is at that moment that, according to the army, an armed man climbed on top of one of the trucks and “started shooting”, which raised fears that “the convoy had been intercepted by Hamas.” The convoy continued on its way and stopped at “Hangar A,” where “the gunman got off,” according to the military.
The military showed reporters footage from the drone video, in which a man appears to fire an automatic rifle from atop the truck. At that time, the military command tried to contact the NGO, declared retired general Yoav Har-Even, head of the internal investigation of the incident.
But WCK’s security manager in Europe was unable to contact the team on the ground, he added.
22H46: “Hamas agents”
When the convoy and the organization’s cars arrived at “Hangar A”, the air force drone captured “between 15 and twenty individuals outside the hangar. At least between two and four of them were identified as [personas] armed,” Har-Even said.
“Between 10:47 p.m. and 10:55 p.m., one of the Israeli officers [que vio las imágenes en la base] concluded that they were Hamas agents.”
However, “they were ordered not to attack the armed individuals so as not to endanger the humanitarian convoy,” he added.
22H55: WCK cars leave
With the trucks in the hangar, the cars left. One of them traveled a short distance, heading north, towards “Hangar B”. “Between two and four armed men were identified leaving [del vehículo] and going towards the hangar,” the general explained.
Drone footage shows at least three men with what appear to be weapons, Har-Even added.
According to him, army regulations prohibit bombing suspects so close to a humanitarian aid warehouse.
23H09: the first of the three bombings
The other three WCK vehicles returned towards the coast. Har-Even claimed that the “cell” commanding the drone was convinced it had detected an armed man riding in one of the vehicles.
“Now we know it was a mistake. It wasn’t a gun. Maybe it was a bag,” he said.
Since the seven aid workers and their vehicles had reached the coast and were heading south, the team flying the drone thought “that the humanitarian mission was over and that they were following at least one Hamas gunman,” he explained. The general.
Later on Friday, April 5, the Israeli military stated that “one of the commanders wrongly assumed that the gunmen were inside the vehicles and that they were Hamas terrorists.”
At 11:09 p.m., the drone “bombed a car, and identified people getting out of the car and getting into another car. They decided to bomb it, which was once morest standard operating procedures,” he said.
“Then they bombed the third car…” he added.
The last bombardment once morest the survivors of the first two missiles occurred at 11:13 p.m.
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