The Israel Defence Forces confirmed earlier this week that it would not open a criminal investigation into the strikes, which hit three vehicles belonging to WCK.<\/p>\n
The charity said at the time that it had coordinated the convoy’s movements with the Israeli military, and its vehicles were clearly marked with the WCK logo.<\/p>\n
Israeli authorities said that an armed guard travelling with the convoy had not been flagged to the military before it set off and was wrongly identified as a Hamas fighter, and that the vehicles had deviated from the route that had been coordinated with the military.<\/p>\n
The IDF said: “Notwithstanding serious failures in the process that led to the assessment that Hamas operatives were travelling in the vehicles, the decisions of the commanders did not raise reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct. This conclusion was reached in view of the sequence of suspicious indicators and the totality of the operational circumstances.<\/p>\n
\u201cAccordingly, it was determined that there is no reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct that would justify the opening of a criminal investigation,\u201d the IDF said.<\/p>\n
WCK rejected the findings, saying the decision was \u201cinconsistent with the full truth\u201d and that the military investigation \u201cconflates different timelines and events\u201d and \u201cshifts the blame for the IDF’s illegal conduct\u201d.<\/p>\n
It called for an independent investigation, saying: \u201cThe IDF cannot credibly investigate its own conduct.<\/p>\n
“At the time of the lethal attacks, the IDF knew that our team in Gaza was unarmed and posing a threat to nobody,” it said in a statement.<\/p>\n
“It had full visual clarity on our clearly marked humanitarian vehicles during the extended, multiple airstrikes. It knew our team’s movements, identities and activities in advance.<\/p>\n
“The military investigation conflates different timelines and events, muddies the story and shifts the blame for the IDF’s illegal conduct.”<\/p>\n
The Australian government also condemned Israel\u2019s decision not to criminally investigate the WCK attack, which killed Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom.<\/p>\n
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a statement the decision “falls far short of the accountability we expect” and summoned the Israeli ambassador.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Israeli military has said criminal investigations would be opened into two prominent incidents of suspected crimes by its forces.<\/p>\n
The military police will probe the killing of six-year-old Hind Rajab, six members of her family and two medics in Gaza City in January 2024, as well as the deaths of 15 rescue workers travelling in a convoy of ambulances and emergency vehicles in Rafah in March 2025.<\/p>\n
In addition to the WCK strike, the cases that have been\u00a0closed are the February 2024 strike on a building used by M\u00e9decins Sans Fronti\u00e8res (MSF) in Khan Younis, which killed two MSF staff members, and the deaths of two other MSF employees travelling in a convoy in Gaza City in November 2023.<\/p>\n