Two IDF Officers Dismissed Over Aid Convoy Tragedy

Latest Developments

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on April 5 the dismissal of two officers and the disciplining of others over an accidental air strike on a Gaza aid convoy.

Publishing the results of an investigation into the April 1 incident in which seven members of the World Central Kitchen (WCK) were killed, the IDF said its forces had spotted a gunman aboard at least one of the aid trucks but assumed mistakenly that Hamas terrorists were in accompanying vehicles. The IDF also failed to identify the vehicles, three of which were attacked from the air, as associated with the WCK, the statement said, calling the strike in the central Gaza Strip “a serious violation of the commands and IDF Standard Operating Procedure.”

In response, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi issued an order to dismiss the fire-support commander for the brigade responsible for the incident, a major, as well as the brigade’s chief of staff, a reserves colonel. Formal reprimands will be filed against the brigade commander and the division commander above him as well as against the Southern Command chief, Maj.-Gen. Yaron Finkelstein, for his overall responsibility. “The IDF will learn the lessons of the incident and will incorporate them into the IDF’s ongoing operations,” the statement concluded.

Before publication, the findings were presented to the ambassadors of the United States, Canada, Australia, Britain, and Poland, which each lost citizens in the strike.

Expert Analysis

“As the Israelis have themselves acknowledged, this tragedy should never have happened. All civilian life is precious, but these humanitarians had additional reason to feel protected, as they were in Gaza at the invitation of Jerusalem, where the WCK has been discussed as a potential successor to UNRWA. So, the malign conspiracy theories being aired in the usual anti-Israel precincts — that this was somehow a deliberate bid to sabotage relief efforts for Palestinians — are preposterous on their face. And they should be put to rest by the speed with which the IDF, in the middle of a war, has investigated and dealt sternly with the officers involved.” — Mark Dubowitz, FDD CEO

“For all the anger and the sorrow in the West over these deaths, those governments might pause to reflect on their own recent military engagements and the friendly-fire incidents incurred there. Can anyone in Washington, Ottawa, London, Canberra, or Warsaw recall their own forces moving with such dispatch — in mere days — to prove accountability and transparency?” — Joe Truzman, Senior Research Analyst at FDD’s Long War Journal

Related Analysis

“Israel to Set Up Coordination Room for Gaza Aid,” FDD Flash Brief

“Humanitarian Aid Arrives in Gaza Via New Maritime Corridor,” FDD Flash Brief

“New Maritime Humanitarian Corridor Opens for Gaza,” FDD Flash Brief