Australia seeking criminal charges over aid workers slain by IDF in Gaza

A 2024 Israeli drone attack on the Palestinian enclave left several foreigners dead

Canberra is demanding criminal charges over an Israeli drone attack on Gaza that left aid workers dead, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said.

Seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers were killed in a 2024 Israeli airstrike, which the NGO has described as “targeted.” The victims included Australian Zomi Frankcom, three British nationals, a Polish national, a dual US-Canadian citizen, and a Palestinian.

The issue was raised this week as Israeli President Isaac Herzog is visiting Australia to express solidarity with the country’s Jewish community in the wake of a deadly mass shooting which took place in December.

Albanese told Australia’s parliament on Wednesday that he had confronted Israel regarding the slain aid workers, calling it “a tragedy and an outrage” and saying Canberra had made clear its “expectation that there be transparency about Israel’s ongoing investigation” into the incident.

“We continue to press for full accountability, including any appropriate criminal charges,” he said, noting that Herzog had agreed to “engage.”

The aid workers were traveling through a de-conflicted zone in central Gaza in two armored cars with the WCK logo on them as well as a soft-skin vehicle when struck, despite the WCK coordinating its movements with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), according to the NGO.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has acknowledged that the IDF was behind the airstrike but is insisting that it was an accident.

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Herzog’s visit has sparked protests in Australia, with hundreds of demonstrators, some waving Palestinian flags, reportedly gathering in several cities to oppose Israel’s military actions in Gaza and demand accountability for the aid workers’ killing.

Herzog told reporters that his visit had been “very emotional” following the Bondi Beach shooting in Sydney, which targeted a Hanukkah celebration and reportedly left at least 15 people dead and more than two dozen injured, devastating the local Jewish community. He said it was also “an opportunity” to advance relations between the two countries.

The UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) has said 382 of its workers have been killed since October 2023, when the IDF began its attacks on Gaza in response to an incursion into Israel by Hamas, in which at least 1,200 were killed and 250 taken hostage. More than 71,000 Palestinians have been killed in the retaliatory Israeli offensive, according to local health officials.