Australia ‘outraged’ after Israel closes investigation into killing of Amalthea aid workers

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Thursday said her country is “outraged” after the Israeli authorities elected not to pursue criminal proceedings against those responsible for the killing of seven aid workers who were transporting humanitarian goods sent from Cyprus to Gaza in 2024. Three simultaneous airstrikes were carried out on a convoy carrying humanitarian aid sent from Cyprus through the island’s Amalthea humanitarian aid corridor to Gaza overland from Israel’s Mediterranean coast to the Gaza strip on the night of April 1, 2024, with Australian national Zomi Frankcom among the seven people killed. “The Australian government learned of Israel’s decision late last night, moments before it was announced, on World Humanitarian Day – which is especially insulting to Zomi’s loved ones, humanitarians, and all Australians. Zomi represented the best of Australia. Her courage deserves to be celebrated. Her family deserves justice,” Wong said. She added that the Israeli authorities’ decision not to pursue criminal proceedings “falls far short of the accountability we expect”. Related Articles • Doomed from the start: the Amalthea aid corridor • Is there a future for the Amalthea plan? • US says Gaza jetty mission complete • Pentagon: Aid in Cyprus will reach Gaza ‘no matter what’ • Amalthea plan to carry on despite ‘reprehensible attack’ • Cyprus will continue with Gaza aid operation despite deaths, ships return (update 5) “This is despite Israel Defence Forces admissions that the IDF strikes on Zomi and her colleagues’ vehicles were the result of serious failures to follow IDF procedures, mistaken identification, and errors in decision-making,” she said, before adding that this was “confirmed” in a report into the incident written by Australian air chief marshal Mark Binskin. She went on to say that “democracies seek and accept higher standards” than what the Israeli authorities have displayed thus far, and added that as such, “the Australian government will not stop pressing Israel for justice for Zomi and her colleagues”. “I will call in Israel’s ambassador to Australia Hillel Newman and have directed Australia’s ambassador to Israel to convey our views directly to Israel as the Australian government considers next steps,” she said. At the time, Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides described the matter as a “sad day”, while European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, who was visiting the island to inspect the Amalthea humanitarian aid corridor’s preparations, said that “humanitarian organisations must be protected.” Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said on the same day that “questions will now need to be answered by the Israelis.” In light of the attack, of the 330 tonnes of humanitarian aid which had been sent from the port of Larnaca to Israel, 240 tonnes returned to the island unloaded, while American charity World Central Kitchen, which had been distributing the aid, temporarily suspended its operations. The charity’s founder, Michelin-starred chef Jose Andres, said at the time that the IDF had argeted his aid workers “systematically, car by car”. “This was not just a bad luck situation where ‘oops’ we dropped the bomb in the wrong place,” he added. A World Central Kitchen barge loaded with food heading to the Gaza coast along the Amalthea corridor Meanwhile, non-governmental organisation Open Arms, which supplied the eponymous ship which carried the humanitarian aid shipment to Israel, was also furious at the incident. Organisation representative Oscar Camps described Gaza as a “dystopian laboratory where people’s blood flows while war technologies are tested and perfected, directed by increasingly automated algorithms that allow all human responsibility to be diluted, using technology and trivialising evil”. Following the attack, the United States attached a temporary jetty to the coast of Gaza so as to allow the aid to be sent directly to the strip over the sea, but this idea faced a litany of problems, including being broken apart by wind in the area, and was only fully operational for a total of 12 days. At the same time, US central command was forced to deny that it had been used in an Israeli military operation which reportedly killed at least 274 Palestinians. Since then, the Amalthea humanitarian aid corridor has remained operational, typically shipping aid to the Israeli port of Ashdod. Kombos said in January that more than 30,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid have been delivered to Gaza from Cyprus since the creation of corridor in 2024.