FOREIGN Affairs Minister Penny Wong demanded that Israel preserve all evidence surrounding the death of seven humanitarian aid workers in Gaza as the Australian government will be sending an independent adviser who will scrutinize the results of the investigation.
Wong said the findings surrounding the death of Australian Zomi Frankcom failed to meet the government’s expectations.
The foreign affairs minister condemned the strike that killed the Australian aid worker and six other colleagues in Gaza in her online account.
“Australia condemns the strike that killed Australian aid worker Lalzawmi ‘Zomi’ Frankcom and her colleagues in Gaza,” Sen. Penny Wong Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs said.
Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles will join Wong in writing a letter to their Israeli counterparts to present Australia’s demands for the remainder of the investigation.
The seven humanitarian aid workers who died from an Israeli airstrike in Gaza on Monday were Australian, Polish, British, and a driver who was a Palestinian, while another one holds a dual American-Canadian citizenship.
Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he had asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to make sure the results of their investigation will be made public.
“I spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu…to find out how exactly this can occur,” Anthony Albanese
Prime Minister of Australia said.
Netanyahu admitted that the airstrike was launched by Israel’s military and that hitting innocent people was unintentional. The Israeli Prime Minister added that these kinds of things happen during wartime a statement that was widely criticized by Australian officials.
Additionally, Maj. Gen. Herzi Halevi, the IDF Chief of Staff admitted that the incident was a case of “misidentification, causing Australian officials to push for an independent inquiry, despite assurances of an independent investigation by Israel’s military.
“The IDF completed a preliminary debrief…It shouldn’t have happened,’’ Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi
IDF Chief of Staff said.
In a recent interview, World Central Kitchen (WCK) founder and celebrity chef José Andrés said the attack was not a mistake and accused Israeli forces in Gaza of deliberately targeting his aid workers. Andrés noted that the three aid convoys hit by the airstrike clearly showed their charity logo, indicating who they are and what exactly they do as an organization.
In recent years, Palestine has pressured Australia to recognize it as a state. At present, Australia does not recognize the State of Palestine but does support a two-state solution – the concept of Israel and a future Palestinian state coexisting in peace and security, within internationally recognized borders.
The tragic incident will serve as a diplomatic test of its impact on Australia-Israel ties and. in the future of its foreign relations towards Palestine.
