Canberra, Aug. 20 (SANA) Australia said Thursday it has no confidence in Israel’s investigation into the killing of Australian Zomi Frankcom and six World Central Kitchen (WCK) colleagues in Gaza.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong made the statement after summoning Israeli Ambassador Hillel Newman over Israel’s decision not to launch criminal investigations into the deaths of the seven aid workers, killed when their convoy was hit by an Israeli airstrike in April 2024.
“We do not have confidence” in the investigation, Wong told journalists after the meeting, according to AFP, adding that relations with Israel were “difficult.”
“The Australian government will continue to keep pressing Israel for justice,” she said.
The Australian government earlier said Israel’s decision “falls short of the level of accountability it expects.” It said the announcement, made on World Humanitarian Day, was “offensive” to Frankcom’s family, humanitarian workers and the Australian public.
The government said the decision came despite the Israeli military’s acknowledgment that the strikes resulted from serious failures to follow military procedures, misidentification and errors in decision-making. Those findings were also corroborated by a report prepared by Air Marshal Mark Binskin, special adviser to the Chief of the Australian Air Force.
Australia also instructed its ambassador to Israel to convey Canberra’s position directly to the Israeli government as it considers its next steps.
Following his meeting with Wong, Newman expressed “deep sorrow and grief” to Frankcom’s family but defended the decision.
“Israel had no intention to attack or injure in any way the aid workers that were on the convoy,” Newman said, according to AFP, adding that there was “no criminal liability.”
World Central Kitchen founder José Andrés called the decision “wrong,” while the U.S.-based organization described it as “inconsistent with the full truth and deeply offensive” and called for an independent commission to investigate.
Frankcom and six other World Central Kitchen staff were killed in April 2024 when their aid convoy was struck in the Gaza Strip, prompting international condemnation and calls for accountability.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu previously said the military had “unintentionally” killed the aid workers.
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