Israel has fired two army officers over the deaths of aid workers in Gaza

 

Israel has dismissed two senior army officers in connection with the killing of seven aid workers in a drone strike in Gaza. Israel's military said this in a statement on Friday.

The two dismissed army officers are a brigade chief of staff with the rank of colonel in the Israeli military and a brigade fire support officer with the rank of major. Apart from this, several senior army officers have been officially reprimanded in the case of aid worker's death in a drone attack. Among them is the head of Israel's military's Southern Command.

Last Monday, seven aid workers from the World Central Kitchen (WCK) charity organization were killed in an Israeli drone strike in the Deir al-Bala area of central Gaza. In the face of international pressure including allies, Israel dismissed two army commanders on Friday after an investigation into the incident. Israel said that the investigation found evidence of serious wrongdoing and violation of rules against them.

According to the Israeli military, the Israeli forces accidentally launched a drone attack targeting three vehicles of WCK at midnight last Monday. The attack was carried out on the assumption that there were armed fighters of Hamas in these vehicles. However, in this case, the rules that are supposed to be followed were not followed.

In a statement, the Israeli military said the attack on a vehicle carrying aid workers was a fatal mistake. These attacks are caused by mistaken identity, lapses in decision-making processes and non-compliance with standard operating procedures (SOPs).

Of the seven aid workers killed in the Israeli attack, three were British, one Palestinian, one Australian, one Polish and one US-Canadian dual citizen. Various countries and organizations have strongly condemned and protested the killing of relief workers by Israel's attack. The United States, known as Israel's ally, also responded strongly to the attack.

US President Joe Biden spoke on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday about the death of relief workers. Biden warned Netanyahu that the United States would cut off arms and aid to Israel if it did not take adequate measures to protect civilians.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on Friday that Washington is carefully monitoring Israel's investigation. The steps taken by Israel will also be closely scrutinized.