Anthony Albanese says Benjamin Netanyahu has expressed condolences and that Israel “has accepted responsibility” for an attack that killed Australian Lalzawmi “Zomi” Frankcom and several of her aid worker colleagues in Gaza.
In an early morning phone call, the Israeli prime minister told Albanese he would commit to a “thorough investigation into what happened here”.
“I expressed Australia’s anger and concern at the death of Zomi Frankcom,” Albanese told reporters on Wednesday morning.
“This is someone who was volunteering overseas to provide aid through this charity. This is completely unacceptable. The Israeli government has accepted responsibility for this and Prime Minister Netanyahu conveyed his condolences to the family of Zomi Frankcom and to Australia as a result of this tragedy.”
Netanyahu wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that “Israel deeply regrets the tragic incident which claimed the lives of seven humanitarian aid workers” and that the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) had begun “conducting a swift and transparent investigation”.
“We will make our findings public,” Netanyahu added.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported the convoy Frankcom was travelling in, marked with the logo of the food charity Central World Kitchen, was hit three times because of “suspicion that an armed Hamas operative had joined the foreign volunteers”.
Citing security sources, Haaretz reported the suspected militant had remained behind in a warehouse where the convoy had stopped. When three of the aid group’s cars left the warehouse, an IDF unit “responsible for securing the traffic route ordered the UAV operators to attack one of the vehicles with a missile”.
“Some of the passengers were seen getting out of the car after the missile hit and moving to one of the other two. They continued their journey and even informed those responsible for them that they had been attacked, but seconds later another missile hit their vehicle. The third car in the convoy approached them, and the passengers began to transfer into it wounded people who survived the second attack — in order to keep them away from any danger. But then a third missile was fired that hit them,” the newspaper reported.
In another story, Haaretz quoted a source in the IDF’s intelligence branch who said the command “knows exactly what the cause of the attack was — in Gaza, everyone does as he pleases”.
The other victims in the attack included 27-year-old Said Issam Abu Taha, a Palestinian; and Damian Sobol, 36, a Polish national.
Frankcom, 43, was born in Melbourne, earned a degree from the Swinburne University of Technology, and worked for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia before beginning a five-year stint with World Central Kitchen.
The Associated Press reported several aid organisations would suspend operations in Gaza as a result of the attack. A report last month by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification said there was a risk famine could occur in Gaza by the end of May if the population there did not get access to essential supplies.
“Famine is imminent in the northern governorates and projected to occur anytime between mid-March and May 2024,” the report said.
More than 196 aid workers have been killed in Gaza since October, according to figures from the US-funded Aid Worker Security Database, the BBC reported.
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