Australia has summoned Israel’s ambassador and expressed outrage over the Israeli military’s decision not to pursue criminal proceedings over the 2024 Gaza airstrike that killed Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom.
The Israeli military said on Wednesday that, following a fact-finding and assessment process, it found no grounds to investigate the deaths of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers, including Frankcom.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she had instructed Australia’s envoy in Israel to convey Canberra’s position directly to the Israeli government as Australia considers its next steps.
The April 2024 attack sparked widespread condemnation from the United States and several allies after the victims included British and Polish nationals, Palestinians, and a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen.
Israel’s ambassador to Australia, Hillel Newman, said the investigation found no criminal liability for the soldiers involved, although it identified operational failures within the Israeli military.
“It was a mistake, in retrospect, but the findings of the court are that there was no criminal intention, no intention to hit at aid workers, and therefore no criminal responsibility,” Newman told reporters in Canberra after meeting Wong.
Newman claimed the aid workers’ convoy had deviated from a pre-approved route and may have contained armed personnel, leading Israeli forces to believe that Hamas militants had taken control of it.
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More than 73,000 Palestinians have reportedly been killed in Israeli attacks since the Gaza war began in 2023, with thousands more killed during Israeli military operations in southern Lebanon. Those killed include aid workers, doctors, journalists and other civilians.
The Israeli military maintains that its operations target Hamas and Hezbollah militants and says it investigates some incidents involving civilian deaths.
