The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it has chosen not to criminally investigate soldiers who killed aid workers, including Australian Zomi Frankcom, two years ago.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong says “Australia is outraged” at the decision.
She also criticised Israel for making the announcement on World Humanitarian Day, which celebrates aid workers.
Wong held a meeting with Israel’s ambassador to Australia Hillel Newman today as a result.
The IDF said its investigation found “serious failures” but “no reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct”.
Zomi Frankcom
Lalzawmi ‘Zomi’ Frankcom worked for aid organisation World Central Kitchen (WCK) in Gaza.
She was from Sydney and had worked for WCK since 2018.
WCK provides meals to communities affected by conflict and natural disasters.
In April 2024, IDF soldiers killed Frankcom, then 43 years old, and six of her colleagues after they delivered food in Gaza.
WCK says IDF soldiers fired on its convoy of vehicles, despite knowing “that our team in Gaza was unarmed and posing a threat to nobody.”
It says the IDF could clearly see the vehicles were marked as being for humanitarian purposes, and knew to expect the WCK.
At the time, the IDF released a statement saying: “The strike was not carried out with the intention of harming WCK aid workers. It was a mistake that followed a misidentification”.
It launched an investigation.
The Australian Government asked Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin to advise on the “sufficiency” of Israel’s investigation.
Investigation
Binskin released his findings in August 2024, having spoken to WCK and the IDF, as well as other parties.
He found WCK had “closely coordinated” with the Israeli defence ministry in the days leading up to the delivery, and that its staff wore “body armour and helmets while travelling”.
Binskin said WCK had hired local security guards, one of whom “fired his weapon into the air” as the convoy approached a warehouse to drop off food and aid.
According to the evidence Binskin heard, this led IDF soldiers watching via drone to believe Hamas, a terrorist organisation, had hijacked the convoy.
Once the convoy was at the warehouse, one soldier believed they saw a person put a gun in the driver’s seat of one of the WCK vehicles.
Binskin said the convoy split up on their way back, with the security going north and WCK going west.
While they drove west, the IDF struck the WCK cars, killing seven people, including Frankcom.
“The IDF stated that they became aware of the mistake almost immediately; however, discussions with IDF personnel indicated that it was discovered via social media and took approximately an hour,” Binskin said.
Israel
This week, the IDF released a statement on the outcome of several of its internal investigations.
On the strike on the WCK convoy, the IDF said soldiers had “identified a gunman on a truck in the humanitarian aid convoy.”
It also said soldiers believed that cars around the aid trucks “corresponded to a scenario” where Hamas had taken control.
Ultimately, it said soldiers “mistakenly believed that the vehicles contained Hamas military operatives and therefore struck the vehicles.”
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The IDF said while it believed there were “serious failures in the process” that led to soldiers firing on the convoy, it “did not raise reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct.”
It said it will therefore not open a criminal investigation in this case.
The IDF’s statement did include an announcement of a criminal investigation into the killing of five-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab.
IDF soldiers fired on the car carrying Rajab and her family near Gaza City in January 2024, killing five people instantly.
Rajab and her 15-year-old cousin Layan Hamadeh survived the attack and called an ambulance for help.
Further Israeli shooting killed Layan.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society worked for hours to try to reach Rajab.
The IDF fired on an ambulance heading towards her, killing the paramedics inside.
With no help able to reach her, Rajab died from her injuries.
These events are depicted in the Oscar-nominated film ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’ (2025).
Aus response
In a statement on Thursday, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia “is outraged the Israeli Government has decided not to pursue criminal proceedings” against the soldiers responsible for killing Frankcom.
Wong said the decision came despite “admissions that the IDF strikes on Zomi and her colleagues’ vehicles were the result of serious failures to follow IDF procedures, mistaken identification and errors in decision-making.”
Wong added the Government only learned of Israel’s decision late last night, on World Humanitarian Day.
Wong met with Israel’s ambassador to Australia, Hillel Newman, for a meeting today to explain his country’s decisions.
Speaking to media after the meeting, Newman said it was not intentional to release the investigation on World Humanitarian Day.
He added: “We express deep sorrow and grief with the family of Zomi Frankcom... we grieve with you [and] we are very sorry for the circumstances that brought about this death.”
Newman added: “One cannot attack findings of a court if the findings are not suitable to one’s political agenda.”
Family
Frankcom’s family released a statement on Thursday afternoon, saying they are “deeply disappointed” by the result of Israel’s investigation.
“Zomi and her colleagues deserve more than an internal, opaque process that ends with a short statement by the Israeli military absolving their soldiers of criminal wrongdoing,” the family said.
They are calling for an independent investigation.
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