Misrepresentations and crucial omissions
The Israeli embassy has accused Australia of making misrepresentations and crucial omissions in its response to a report on aid worker Zomi Frankcom’s death.
Zomi Frankcom
A federal government advisor released a report on Friday into the Israel Defence Force airstrike on a humanitarian convoy which killed Ms Frankcom and six other World Central Kitchen workers as they delivered food in Gaza in April.
Former Australian Defence Force chief Mark Binskin found the incident was caused by failures to follow IDF procedures, mistaken identification and decision-making errors exacerbated by confirmation bias.
Israel’s embassy in Canberra has taken issue with aspects of Australia’s response.
“The Australian government’s statement about the report regrettably included some misrepresentations and omitted crucial details,” the embassy said in a statement on Monday.
It claimed the federal government had misrepresented the way the report was conducted, the degree of co-operation and openness exhibited by the Israeli Defence Force and “certain aspects of the tragic incident”.
During a press conference on Friday, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Ms Frankcom was killed “in an intentional strike by the IDF” and urged Israel to apologise to her family.
The Israeli embassy pointed out Mr Binskin’s report found the IDF strike was “not knowingly or deliberately directed” against World Central Kitchen.
The diplomatic statement extended “deepest condolences” to Ms Frankcom’s family but did not include an apology.
Israel’s defence force had dismissed two officers and reprimanded three others while improving co-ordination between the IDF and aid organisations, the embassy said.
“We hold the critical humanitarian activity undertaken by international aid organisations in the highest regard,” it said.
“We will continue to co-ordinate and assist in their operations.”
On October 7, Hamas – designated a terrorist group by the Australian government – attacked Israel, killing 1200 people and resulting in more than 200 hostages, according to Israeli authorities.
Penny Wong
Penny Wong told the press conference: “I want to start by saying the deaths of Ms Frankcom and her colleagues were inexcusable. We condemn the Israeli strikes that caused them. Zomi Frankcom and her colleagues from World Central Kitchen were killed in an intentional strike by the IDF. It is clear that these deaths were a consequence of a failure of IDF controls, errors in decision-making and misidentification, a failure to comply with senior command direction and a violation of IDF procedures and rules of engagement. As the IDF itself has said, this incident should not have occurred and was a grave mistake.
Israel is bound by international humanitarian law. This includes the protection of civilians and the provision of aid. Israel is bound to observe the principles of IHL in enabling the provision of aid. Israel is bound by international law which requires the protection of aid workers. Demonstrably that did not occur in relation to Zomi Frankcom and her World Central Kitchen colleagues.
The government appointed Air Chief Marshal Binskin as special advisor to ensure that Israel’s response is conducted in a manner consistent with these expectations and the expectations of the Australian people, to provide advice on the sufficiency and appropriateness of steps taken to hold those responsible to account and the measures adopted to prevent such incidents happening again.
I do acknowledge the access that was well provided to Mr Binskin, including at the highest level of the IDF, to facilitate his work. I also acknowledge Israel’s process to date, which is outlined in the report. ACM Binskin indicates that it is broadly in line with the approach that the ADF would take in conducting an investigation. Two officers removed and three reprimanded.
Of course, as the report makes clear, Israel’s process for determining accountability is not over. The Military Advocate General of Israel is still to decide on further action. That is a decision for her and for the Israeli judicial system. However, Australia’s expectation remains that this decision be transparent, and Ms Frankcom’s family, whom I have spoken to, are firmly of the view that further action is necessary, including criminal investigation. And they feel that the disciplinary action taken to date is insufficient.
The Australian Government will continue to press for full accountability, including any appropriate criminal charges, and we will continue to advocate the views of the Frankcom family and the Australian Government to Israel. We do believe an apology should be provided.
Gaza remains the deadliest place on earth to be an aid worker. This was not a one-off incident. The UN reports that more than 250 aid workers have been killed since the start of this conflict. And in recent weeks a number of UN vehicles have come under attack. This is not acceptable. And this is why the government is implementing all of Air Chief Marshall Binskin’s recommendations, including working with the UN and the international community to press Israel to reform its coordination and deconfliction with humanitarian organisations working on the ground. We want to ensure that the tragic deaths of Zomi Frankcom and her World Central Kitchen colleagues are not in vain and are never repeated.
I’m engaging with Sigrid Kaag, Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, as well as other partners on what more can be done to improve deconfliction in Gaza but also for future conflicts. And I have asked my officials to work on what role Australia can play internationally to do more to ensure the protection of humanitarian workers.
I have also written to Israeli Foreign Minister Katz about the urgent need for Israel to reform its coordination and deconfliction for the delivery of humanitarian assistance. We want proper protection for aid workers in place, and we want more aid to flow, and we will do all that we are able to achieve this.”
Israel’s embassy in Canberra’s full statement: “The Israeli government takes with utmost seriousness the grave incident that claimed the lives of seven World Central Kitchen workers, among them Australian citizen Zomi Frankcom. We use this moment to again extend our deepest condolences to the Frankcom family, as well as to the families of the other six aid workers. We hold the critical humanitarian activity undertaken by international aid organizations in the highest regard, and consider this work to be of paramount importance. As such, we will continue to coordinate and assist in their operations, whilst taking all available measures to allow them to operate safely.
The IDF has taken full responsibility for the grave mistakes that led to the tragic incident of the night of April
After an initial investigation by the Fact Finding and Assessment Mechanism (FFAM), the IDF dismissed two officers from their positions and reprimanded three others. Of that, Air Chief Marshal Binskin has stated in his report that “while the outcomes may be similar… the ADF could not have imposed equivalent reprimands as quickly as the IDF CGS was able to”. Following upcoming final conclusions of the FFAM investigation, the Military Advocate General will determine if additional steps are justified.
While Air Chief Marshal Binskin had no investigative authority or mandate, the IDF fully engaged with him and provided him with access to all areas requested, including evidence, high-level officials and operational processes, in order to contribute to the Australian peoples understanding on how this incident occurred and how it has been investigated. The Australian government’s statement about the report regrettably included some misrepresentations and omitted crucial details with respect to the manner in which the report was conducted, the degree of cooperation and openness exhibited by the IDF, and even with respect to certain aspects of the tragic incident itself.
The report explicitly reaffirms that the IDF is a professional and disciplined army, with similar legal views, standards and controls in place to mitigate the risks of war, like the ADF. The report also confirms that “the IDF strike on the WCK aid workers was not knowingly or deliberately directed against the WCK,” and that
“It is likely that the presence of armed locally-contracted security on the WCK aid convoy, not notified or approved in the detailed WCK-CLA coordination process, which gave the appearance of the presence of Hamas.” It cannot be ruled out “that WCK inadvertently contracted security for the aid convoy with an entity that had links to Hamas.”
Following the incident, several steps have been taken in order to further improve the coordination between aid organizations and the IDF, and operational orders and procedures have been modified and redefined in order to minimize the risk of such mistakes reoccurring. Israel will continue to work hand in hand with the international community to coordinate and assist the activity of aid organizations, in order to address the needs of the population and improve the humanitarian situation in the Gaza strip.
Penny Wong thinks everything is inexcusable. She’s a pain in the neck, and an ignorant one at that. Or perhaps she doesn’t want to look at the full facts, so chooses to ignore them.
Boy, does she pontificate.