Israel’s military has acknowledged making grave mistakes and violating protocol in strikes that killed seven aid workers in Gaza. An Israeli inquiry revealed that troops mistakenly targeted vehicles of the World Central Kitchen (WCK) under the assumption they were Hamas gunmen. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) fired two officers and reprimanded others for their involvement in the strikes.
The IDF has been engaged in efforts to track down and eliminate Hamas militants in Gaza for nearly six months. The incident occurred when troops identified a Hamas gunman in an aid truck in Deir al-Balah and mistakenly assumed that workers with the WCK were terrorists. The vehicles were targeted, resulting in the tragic deaths of seven aid workers from various nationalities.
