Israeli army says it attacked aid workers in Gaza because it thought it saw “a Hamas gunman”

The Israeli Army recognized this Friday, April 5, 2024, a series of “errors” in the bombing that killed seven aid workers on Monday in the Gaza Strip and alleged that He thought he saw “a Hamas gunman” in the convoy.

These aid workers – six foreigners and one Palestinian – were killed in three Israeli bombings on their convoy within a four-minute interval.
The team in charge of the drones that bombed the vehicles committed “an error of operational appreciation of the situation“, after 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 Army, which recognizes “violations of normal operational procedures,” also admitted that WCK had communicated its roadmap, but the military in charge of the attack did not have it.

At a press conference at Army headquarters in Tel Aviv, senior military officers presented journalists with drone video footage showing the “Hamas agent” in the WCK convoy, which was circulating through central Gaza around 10:00 p.m. Monday locals.

There were large WCK logos on top of the vehicles, but the drone camera could 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 Army “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 on Thursday urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to order an “immediate ceasefire.”

The aid workers died after 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.