UK, Canada and Australia condemn Israel for refusing criminal probe into aid worker killings in Gaza

Image source, World Central KitchenImage caption, Seven World Central Kitchen humanitarian workers were killed in Israeli strikes in April 2024ByTinshui YeungPublished1 hour agoThe UK, Canada and Australia have described as "shameful" Israel's decision not to launch a criminal investigation into strikes on a World Central Kitchen (WCK) convoy in Gaza in 2024, which killed seven humanitarian workers.The victims were three British nationals, a Pole, an Australian, a Canadian and a dual US-Canadian citizen.A joint statement by the three foreign ministries said: "The victims of this incident and their families deserve justice and accountability, and we will continue to seek answers on their behalf."Earlier, Israel's ambassador to Australia, Hillel Newman, defended the decision, saying "there was no criminal intention" and therefore "no criminal responsibility".The statement said that on 1 April 2024, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) fired on the WCK convoy as it was delivering food to civilians in Gaza."In the more than two years since, we have been pressing for Israel to swiftly and thoroughly consider the case and hold those responsible to account," it said.The three countries said the fact that Israel's announcement came on World Humanitarian Day, "while the world honoured the courage and sacrifice of humanitarians, was particularly egregious".It also said the WCK attack was only "one of countless incidents in Gaza where there has been no accountability", as Gaza remains "the deadliest place to deliver aid", with 186 humanitarian workers killed in 2025.It urged Israel to comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law and do more to ensure that humanitarian staff can carry out their work safely.Who were the World Central Kitchen workers killed in Gaza?'Serious failures'In its statement on Wednesday, the IDF said the presence of an armed guard with the convoy had not been flagged to it before the convoy set off, and that he was falsely identified as a Hamas fighter. It also accused the convoy of deviating from the route co-ordinated with the military.Notwithstanding "serious failures" in the process that led to the killings, "the decisions of the commanders did not raise reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct," the IDF said.Prior to the statement by the three countries, Australia summoned Hillel Newman. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said her country was "outraged" by the Israeli government's decision.She also said there were still many "unanswered questions" about the strikes, including why, if the first strike on the convoy was "a catastrophic error", two further strikes followed just minutes apart.Poland's foreign ministry also said on Thursday that it was "very disappointed" and had summoned Israel's ambassador in Warsaw.The founder of World Central Kitchen, Jose Andres, described the decision as "wrong" and "painful for all of us", demanding an independent commission to investigate.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not publicly responded to the latest statement from the UK, Australia and Canada, but he previously said that the military had "unintentionally" killed the volunteers.The statement came after a harsh exchange of words between UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar over Israel's plans to open tenders for the construction of about 1,200 settlement homes in a strategically important part of the occupied West Bank.Israeli settlements are illegal under international law and plans to build in the so-called E1 area - east of Jerusalem - have long been internationally condemned.Miliband condemned the publication of the tender as "an unacceptable and destructive act", and called on Israel to "halt E1 plans immediately, retract the tender and stop all settlement expansion".In response, Saar said on social media that he rejected "outright" Miliband's statement."The Jewish people have the right to live throughout the Land of Israel, just as the British have the right to live in London and throughout the United Kingdom," he wrote.Image source, AFP via Getty ImagesImage caption, File photo of the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim in the occupied West Bank next to the so-called E1 project in East Jerusalem, taken in February 2026While the IDF had decided not to launch a criminal investigation into the strikes on the WCK convoy, it announced in the same statement that it would carry out a criminal investigation into the killing by Israeli forces of five-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab and six of her relatives in Gaza in 2024.It also said it would similarly investigate the killing of 15 Palestinians, including medics and a UN worker, in March 2025. 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