Israel admits 'serious failure' in airstrikes that killed aid workers

The Israeli military on Friday admitted in a statement that its killing of seven workers with the World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid group was "a grave mistake stemming from a serious failure due to a mistaken identification and errors in decision-making."

Israeli airstrikes targeted on Monday a convoy of the non-profit food charity in the Gaza Strip, resulting in the deaths of its seven workers from Australia, Canada/the United States (a dual citizen), Gaza, Poland and Britain.

In the statement presenting the main investigation results, the Israeli army said its forces identified two gunmen in the convoy, and after the vehicles departed from the aid warehouse, an Israeli commander "mistakenly assumed" the gunmen were Hamas militants.

According to the investigation, the forces did not recognize the vehicles as affiliated with WCK, and "those who approved the strike were convinced that they were targeting armed Hamas operatives, not WCK employees."

However, according to WCK, all targeted vehicles were prominently marked with the organization's logo on the top and sides, and their movements had been pre-coordinated with the military.

The strike on the aid vehicles was "an attack contrary to the standard operating procedures," read the statement.

The military announced that some disciplinary action would be taken. Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Herzi Halevi will reprimand the commander of the Southern Command for his overall responsibility for the incident, it said. Additionally, a division commander will face a reprimand, and the army will initiate procedures to dismiss two brigade commanders, it added.

The statement made no mention of any intention to indict any of the individuals involved in the killing.

In response, the WCK said in a statement on its website that the measures taken are "important steps forward." However, it reiterated its call for the establishment of an independent commission to investigate the killing. "The IDF cannot credibly investigate its own failure in Gaza," it said.

The group said that it was clear from the 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."

"Without systemic change, there will be more military failures, more apologies and more grieving families," the group said.

(With input from Xinhua)