Australia criticizes Israel's explanation for attack on WCK convoy: 'Not good enough'

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Albanese demands Netanyahu “full responsibility for what happened” and denounces that “too many innocent lives have been lost”

April 4 () –

The Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, criticized this Thursday Israel's explanation for the attack perpetrated against a convoy of the NGO World Central Kitchen (WCK), by Asturian chef José Andrés, in which seven humanitarian workers died, including a citizen Australian, and has asked his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, for “full responsibility for what happened.”

The volunteer with Australian citizenship was identified as Lalzawmi 'Zomi' Frankcom, 43, and was the team leader. She also worked in Bangladesh, Pakistan and even Australia during the bushfires. “She was helping humanity and for her to be killed in this way is a catastrophic and devastating event for her family. Our nation also feels it deeply,” she said.

“'Zomi' Frankcom was traveling in a vehicle clearly identified as a humanitarian aid vehicle. She should not have been at risk. She should not have been in danger. And what is not good enough are the statements that have been made, including that this is only a product of war,” he declared.

Albanese stated that these comments “go against International Humanitarian Law” and stressed that “humanitarian workers should be able to provide that help and assistance, free from the threat of losing their lives.”

“What we know is that the impact of this war is such that it should not be the case that innocent Palestinians or people who help them have to pay the price for the actions of the terrorist group Hamas,” he said.

In this sense, Albanese, who reported that he called Netanyahu on Wednesday, emphasized that Australia, as it has demonstrated with its vote at the UN, has called for a humanitarian ceasefire. “Too many innocent lives have been lost in Gaza,” she denounced.

The Chief of the Israeli General Staff, Herzi Halevi, stated the day before that the attack against the humanitarian convoy “was a serious mistake” that took place “after a mistaken identification during a war in very complex conditions”, stressing that it was not ” intentional” and that “it should not have happened.

On Monday night, the Israeli Army bombed a WCK convoy in the Deir al-Balah area, in the center of the Gaza Strip. The deceased were British, Polish, Australian, Palestinian and American-Canadian nationals. After the attack, the NGO has paralyzed its operations in the enclave.

WCK workers were in the Strip on a humanitarian mission, in collaboration with the NGO Open Arms, to establish a maritime humanitarian corridor between Cyprus and Gaza and thus overcome the enormous obstacles imposed by Israel for the delivery of aid by land.

The Israeli Army began an offensive against the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in response to its attacks on October 7, which left 1,200 dead and 240 hostages. Since then, Palestinian authorities have reported the deaths of almost 33,000 people, including around 440 Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem due to the actions of Israeli security forces and settlers.