'Unforgivable': Israel faces growing outcry over deaths of aid workers

IDF chief admits strike was ‘grave mistake’ and promises full investigation

Israel was on Wednesday facing mounting international outrage over its killing of seven aid workers, including three Britons, in Gaza as it said in a grovelling apology that it was “a grave mistake”.

John Chapman, 57, James Henderson, 33, and James Kirby, 47, died with four World Central Kitchen colleagues when the three vehicles they were using to deliver food were hit in a triple drone strike by the Israel Defence Forces.

All three Britons were part of the aid organisation’s security team with Mr Henderson, a former Royal Marine, due to leave Gaza that day. Mr Chapman, from Poole, Dorset, is understood to have been a former member of Britain’s special forces.

The three were reportedly working for the charity as contractors from a security company in Poole. Erin Gore, the chief executive of World Central Kitchen described the strike as “unforgivable”, saying that it was “not only an attack against WCK, this is an attack on humanitarian organisations showing up in the most dire of situations where food is being used as a weapon of war”.

Killed: top row from left, British security workers James Henderson, 33, James Kirby, 47, and John Chapman, 57. Far right,American-Canadian Jacob Flickinger, 33. bottom row from far left, Polish aid worker Damian Soból, 35, Australian colleague Lalzawmi Frankcom, 43, and Palestinian drive Saifeddin Issam, Ayad Abutaha, 25

Mr Kirby’s family today paid tribute to a “genuine gentleman”. In a statement, they said: “Alongside the other six individuals who tragically lost their lives, he will be remembered as a hero. James understood the dangers of venturing into Gaza, drawing from his experiences in the British Armed Forces, where he bravely served tours in Bosnia and Afghanistan. Despite the risks, his compassionate nature drove him to offer assistance to those in dire need.”

Their deaths, which follow the killings of nearly 200 other aid workers in Gaza since the conflict began in October and the death of more than 32,000 Palestinians, have caused revulsion and demands for Israel to change its approach to prevent further such tragedies. US president Joe Biden, who said he was “outraged and heartbroken”, has led the calls for action.

In response today, Lt-General Herzi Halevi, the IDF’s chief of the general staff, promised a full investigation and greater efforts to avoid future tragedies as he admitted that the lethal strike on the seven aid workers should never have happened. “I want to be very clear — the strike was not carried out with the intention of harming WCK aid workers,” he said.

“It was a mistake that followed a misidentification — at night during a war in very complex conditions. It shouldn’t have happened.

TOPSHOT-PALESTINIAN-ISRAEL-CONFLICT-AID-STRIKE
AFP via Getty Images

“We will continue to take immediate action to ensure that more is done to protect humanitarian aid workers. This incident was a grave mistake. Israel is at war with Hamas, not the people of Gaza. We are sorry for the unintentional harm to members of WCK.

“We are sharing the grief of their families as well as the entire World Central Kitchen organisation from the bottom of our hearts.”

Today’s contrition from Israel, which followed an earlier apology from Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, did little, however, to appease the growing wave of anger over yesterday’s tragedy. It happened shortly after the aid workers had unloaded more than 100 tonnes of food into the World Central Kitchen warehouse at Deir al-Balah.

Mr Biden said he was “outraged and heartbroken” by the killings but that they were not a “stand-alone incident” in a conflict that had been “one of the worst in recent memory in terms of how many aid workers have been killed”.

He demanded that Israel conducted a swift investigation to deliver accountability with the findings made public and that Israel must make greater efforts to prevent civilian casualties.

The Evening Standard Front Page on Wednesday
Evening Standard

“Incidents like yesterday’s simply should not happen,” Mr Biden added in a White House statement. “Israel has also not done enough to protect civilians. The United States has repeatedly urged Israel to deconflict their military operations against Hamas with humanitarian operations, in order to avoid civilian casualties.”

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also expressed his anger, telling Mr Netanyahu in a telephone call that he was appalled by the tragedy. He called for a thorough, transparent investigation and for aid organisations to be allowed to conduct their work in Gaza unhindered.

As well as the three Britons, the other aid workers killed in the drone strike were 25-year-old Palestinian driver Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha, Australian Lalzawmi “Zomi” Frankcom, 43, Pole Damian Sobol, 35, and US Canadian dual citizen Jacob Flickinger, 33.

Australia and Poland were among the other countries expressing their anger while the United Nations has warned that the tragedy was the result of the way in which Israel had been conducting the war in Gaza.

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