(Courtesy: World Central Kitchen)
The Canadian government and other allies are slamming Israel’s response after seven aid workers, including one Canadian, were killed by an airstrike.
On Monday, an Israeli airstrike tragically killed aid workers from World Central Kitchen (WCK), a humanitarian organization delivering food in Gaza.
The organization has released a statement on its website calling for an independent investigation into the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) strikes.
“This was a military attack that involved multiple strikes and targeted three WCK vehicles. All three vehicles were carrying civilians; they were marked as WCK vehicles; and their movements were in full compliance with Israeli authorities, who were aware of their itinerary, route, and humanitarian mission,” it said.
According to the statement, the workers that were killed were nationals of Australia, Canada/US (dual citizen), Gaza, Poland, and the United Kingdom.
“We have asked the governments of Australia, Canada, the United States of America, Poland, and the United Kingdom to join us in demanding an independent, third-party investigation into these attacks, including whether they were carried out intentionally or otherwise violated international law,” WCK added.
The IDF said the strike was a “grave mistake.”
“I want to be very clear — the strike was not carried out with the intention of harming WCK aid workers. It was a mistake that followed a misidentification, at night, during a war in very complex conditions. It shouldn’t have happened,” Herzi Halevi, the IDF chief of staff, said Wednesday.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the incident was a “tragic case of our forces unintentionally hitting innocent people in the Gaza Strip” and that “this happens in war time.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has expressed his condolences to the Canadian citizen named Jacob Flickinger in a post on X:
Trudeau also told reporters on Thursday, “We need a fully open, transparent, independent and rapid investigation.”
And he responded to Netanyahu’s comments about the deadly airstrike.
“No, it doesn’t just happen and it shouldn’t just happen,” Trudeau said.
An IDF spokesperson released a video saying it’s committed to a full and transparent investigation of the WCK incident.
“We will be opening a probe to examine this serious incident further. This will help us reduce the risk of such an event from occuring again,” Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said.
