Sometime between 1 & 2 April 2024 the State of Israel under the direction of the Likud Government did what it had done many times since 7 October 2023, it killed humanitarian aid workers during its war on the Palestinian population within the Gaza Strip.
This time it was six international aid workers with the food aid charity World Central Kitchen and their Palestinian translator. One of those killed was a Melbourne-born Australian citizen, Ms. Lalzawmi "Zomi" Frankcom. Sadly they joined the 176 United Nations aid workers killed since 7 October 2024.
After six months the Palestinian death toll stands at 33,091 civilians killed in ongoing Israeli Defence Force (IDF) attacks - including 13,000 children. With the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child confirming in March 2024 that 27 children have died of preventable starvation - though this number is thought to be a gross underestimation. There is no count possible of the men, women & children missing presumed dead under the rubble in this violent chaos.
This time the world surprised the Likud Government and its IDF - it did not bow down to an international bully and it no longer accepted that what has been occurring in occupied Gaza is a legitimate response by the Likud Government to the death of 1,200 Israelis in a terrorist incursion into Israel on 7 October 2023.
So on 3 April in a public video statement the unrepentant Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to this rising outrage: "Unfortunately in the past day there was a tragic event in which our forces unintentionally harmed non-combatants in the Gaza Strip". However, he could not stop himself from further stating "This happens in wartime. We are thoroughly looking into it..."
Around forty-eight hours later on 5 April this statement was released:
April 5, 2024
The investigation of the grave incident in which seven workers of the World Central Kitchen (WCK) were killed in the Gaza Strip as a result of IDF fire was carried out by the Joint Chiefs of Staff's Fact-Finding and Assessment Mechanism (FFAM), led by MG (res.) Yoav Har-Even, was presented yesterday (Thursday) to the IDF Chief of the General Staff, LTG Herzi Halevi.
After presenting the findings of the investigation to the Chief of the General Staff, MG (res.) Har-Even presented them to the WCK organization and reiterated the IDF’s deep sorrow about the incident. The findings were also presented in briefings to international ambassadors and journalists.
The event occurred on April 1, 2024, during an operation to transfer humanitarian aid from the WCK to the Gaza Strip. The investigation found that the forces identified a gunman on one of the aid trucks, following which they identified an additional gunman. After the vehicles left the warehouse where the aid had been unloaded, one of the commanders mistakenly assumed that the gunmen were located inside the accompanying vehicles and that these were Hamas terrorists. The forces did not identify the vehicles in question as being associated with WCK. Following a misidentification by the forces, the forces targeted the three WCK vehicles based on the misclassification of the event and misidentification of the vehicles as having Hamas operatives inside them, with the resulting strike leading to the deaths of seven innocent humanitarian aid workers. The strikes on the three vehicles were carried out in serious violation of the commands and IDF Standard Operating Procedures.
The investigation’s findings indicate that the incident should not have occurred. Those who approved the strike were convinced that they were targeting armed Hamas operatives and not WCK employees. The strike on the aid vehicles is a grave mistake stemming from a serious failure due to a mistaken identification, errors in decision-making, and an attack contrary to the Standard Operating Procedures.
After being presented with, and considering the investigation's findings, the IDF Chief of the General Staff decided that the following command measures will be taken: the brigade fire support commander, an officer with the rank of major, will be dismissed from his position. The brigade chief of staff, an officer with the rank of colonel in reserve, will be dismissed from his position. Additionally, the brigade commander and the 162nd Division commander will be formally reprimanded. The IDF Chief of Staff decided to formally reprimand the commander of the Southern Command for his overall responsibility for the incident.
The IDF takes seriously the grave incident that claimed the lives of seven innocent humanitarian aid workers. We express our deep sorrow for the loss and send our condolences to the families and the WCK organization. We consider the vital humanitarian activity of international aid organizations to be of utmost importance, and we will continue to work to coordinate and assist their activities, while ensuring their safety and safeguarding their lives.
The IDF once again emphasizes its commitment to fighting against the Hamas terrorist organization, while upholding the values of the IDF, the laws of war, and avoiding harming civilians. The IDF will learn the lessons of the incident and will incorporate them into the IDF's ongoing operations.
Again the world reacted in a way that the Likud Government had perhaps not anticipated. Many of its allies saw this statement as merely rapping the knuckles of the IDF soldiers involved and glibly moving on with its disproportionally destructive war aimed at ethnic cleansing in occupied Palestinian territory.
On the same day the UN Human Rights Council issued this press release:
05 April 2024
The Human Rights Council this morning adopted five resolutions, including a text in which it demanded that Israel immediately lift its blockade on the Gaza Strip and all other forms of collective punishment, calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. The Council called upon all States to take immediate action to prevent the continued forcible transfer of Palestinians within or from Gaza, and to cease the sale, transfer and diversion of arms, munitions and other military equipment to Israel.
The five resolutions concerned the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, realising the rights of the child and inclusive social protection, the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, human rights in the occupied Syrian Golan, and Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan.
Concerning the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and the obligation to ensure accountability and justice, the Council adopted by a vote of 28 in favour, 6 against and 13 abstentions (as orally revised) a resolution in which it demanded that Israel, the occupying power, end its occupation of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem. The Council also demanded that Israel immediately lift its blockade on the Gaza Strip and all other forms of collective punishment, and called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. The Council called upon all States to take immediate action to prevent the continued forcible transfer of Palestinians within or from Gaza. It called upon all States to cease the sale, transfer and diversion of arms, munitions and other military equipment to Israel and requested the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel to report on both the direct and indirect transfer or sale of arms, munitions, parts, components and dual use items to Israel, the occupying power, and to present its report to the Council at its fifty-ninth session. [my yellow highlighting]
The Council also requested the Office of the High Commissioner to deploy the additional necessary personnel, expertise and logistics to the occupied Palestinian territory country office to document and pursue accountability for violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law committed in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem. The Council requested the High Commissioner for Human Rights to report on the implementation of the present resolution to the Council at its fifty-eighth session, to be followed by an interactive dialogue.
As for the rights of the child: realising the rights of the child and inclusive social protection, the Council requested the High Commissioner to prepare a report on child rights mainstreaming across the United Nations, including on the implementation of the Guidance Note of the Secretary-General, and to present the report to the Council at its fifty-ninth session. It also requested the High Commissioner to prepare a report on the rights of the child and violations of the human rights of children in armed conflict and to present the report to the Human Rights Council at its sixtieth session. It requested the Office of the High Commissioner to organise the annual full-day meeting on the rights of the child in 2026 on the theme of the rights of the child and violations of the human rights of children in armed conflicts.
On the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, the Council adopted by a vote of 42 in favour, 2 against and 3 abstentions, a resolution in which it called upon Israel, the occupying power, to immediately end its occupation of the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and to reverse and redress any impediments to the political independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Palestine, and reaffirmed its support for the solution of two States, Palestine and Israel, living side by side in peace and security. The Council urged all States to adopt measures as required to promote the realisation of the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people and decided to remain seized of the matter.
Regarding human rights in the occupied Syrian Golan, adopted by a vote of 29 in favour, 14 against and 4 abstentions, the Council demanded that Israel immediately cease all settlement-related plans and activities in the occupied Syrian Golan and determined that all legislative and administrative measures and actions taken or to be taken by Israel that seek to alter the character and legal status of the occupied Syrian Golan are null and void. It requested the Secretary-General to disseminate the resolution as widely as possible and to report on this matter to the Council at its fifty-eighth session.
As for Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan, the Council adopted by a vote of 36 in favour, 3 against and 8 abstentions (as orally revised) a resolution in which it called upon Israel to comply with all its obligations under international law and to cease immediately all actions causing the alteration of the character, status and demographic composition of the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan, and to end without delay its occupation of the territories occupied since 1967. The Council requested the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel to prepare a report on the identities of settlers, as well as settler groups and their members, that have engaged in or continue to engage in acts of terror, violence or intimidation against Palestinian civilians and the actions taken by Israel and by third States, and to present the report to the Council at its fifty-ninth session.
The webcast of the Human Rights Council meetings can be found here. All meeting summaries can be found here. Documents and reports related to the Human Rights Council’s fifty-fifth regular session can be found here.....
Action on Resolution under Agenda Item Two on the Annual Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General
In a resolution (A/HRC/55/L.30) on the Human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and the obligation to ensure accountability and justice, adopted by a vote of 28 in favour, 6 against and 13 abstentions (as orally revised), the Council demands that Israel, the occupying power, end its occupation of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem; also demands that Israel immediately lift its blockade on the Gaza Strip and all other forms of collective punishment; calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, for immediate emergency humanitarian access and assistance, and for the urgent restoration of basic necessities to the Palestinian population in Gaza; calls upon all States to take immediate action to prevent the continued forcible transfer of Palestinians within or from Gaza; calls upon all States to cease the sale, transfer and diversion of arms, munitions and other military equipment to Israel; urges all States to continue to provide emergency assistance to the Palestinian people and calls upon all States to ensure that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East receives predictable sustained and sufficient funding to fulfil its mandate; invites the General Assembly to recommend that the Government of Switzerland promptly convene the Conference of High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Convention on measures to enforce the Convention in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem; requests the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel to report on both the direct and indirect transfer or sale of arms, munitions, parts, components and dual use items to Israel, the occupying power, and to analyse the legal consequences of these transfers, and to present its report to the Council at its fifty-ninth session; requests the Secretary-General to ensure the availability of all additional resources, including through voluntary resources, necessary to enable the Commission of Inquiry to carry out its mandate; requests the Office of the High Commissioner to deploy the additional necessary personnel, expertise and logistics to the occupied Palestinian territory country office to document and pursue accountability for violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law committed in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem; and requests the High Commissioner for Human Rights to report on the implementation of the present resolution to the Council at its fifty-eighth session, to be followed by an interactive dialogue; and decides to remain seized of the matter.
The results of the vote are as follows:
In favour (28): Algeria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Burundi, Chile, China, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Eritrea, Finland, Gambia, Ghana, Honduras, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Maldives, Morocco, Qatar, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, and Viet Nam.
Against (6): Argentina, Bulgaria, Germany, Malawi, Paraguay and United States.
Abstentions (13): Albania, Benin, Cameroon, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, France, Georgia, India, Japan, Lithuania, Montenegro, Netherlands, and Romania.
In Australia these words were penned in a small daily newsletter and a pithy cartoon drawn......
The Echidna, newsletter, 5 April 2024:
Israel on the brink of becoming a pariah state
Thursday April 4, 2024
John Hanscombe
Shit happens, especially in war. At least that's what Benjamin Netanyahu tells us with brute insensitivity while admitting the IDF was responsible for the strike that killed seven aid workers, including Australian Zomi Frankcom, in Gaza.
Any comfort for the families of the slain that may have come from the admission of responsibility evaporated with the caveat the Israeli PM appended to his wafer thin expression of remorse. But we shouldn't be surprised, nor should we be shocked.
Netanyahu has been making poor excuses for the abominable conduct of the war in Gaza for months now. Every hospital or school obliterated, every air strike that takes the lives and futures of Palestinians dug out of the rubble of their crowded homes has been rationalised as the unfortunate but necessary mechanics of war.
Whatever high moral ground Israel had after the October 7 Hamas atrocities has been abandoned. After months systematically levelling Gaza, claiming more than 30,000 lives in the process and ignoring pleas from the global community to exercise restraint, the country now teeters on the brink of becoming another pariah state. Just like those it routinely condemns.
Many Israelis know this. They're out on the streets in their thousands demanding the resignation of Netanyahu because of his mishandling of the war. They know the chances of seeing hostages returned diminish every day the relentless bombing continues. Some no doubt wonder if Netanyahu ever really intended to have the hostages returned or whether in his ruthless calculus they were always collateral damage.
And Jewish people around the world are coming to the same realisation. The Jewish Council of Australia yesterday called on Australia to cut all military ties with Israel and impose sanctions while the Zionist Federation of Australia predictably sheeted blame for the Australian's death on Hamas.
Until now, I'd been loath to weigh into the Gaza conflict. Nothing I could do or so say would make any difference and there was the risk of a pile-on from one side or the other. But I'd encountered the good work of World Central Kitchen at another catastrophe on the other side of the world, which somehow made Zomi Frankcom's death seem personal.
Covering the aftermath of the Lismore floods, I'd come across WCK volunteers providing meals for the residents of that shattered town. This was no distant disaster response seen through the lens of the TV news. It was up close and very real. And the gratitude of the traumatised flood survivors who gathered to be fed was palpable. [My yellow highlighting]
They found not only physical sustenance but fellowship as well. Tears flowed in the troubled eyes of one fellow, who told me his soul was filled with mud, as he gave thanks to the people like the WCK crew who had helped him, not just with food but with kinds words and hope.
Now, the help that was given to Palestinians has been paused, not just by WCK but by other aid groups who fear for their workers' safety.
Yet again the innocent suffer. Yet again, shit happens.
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| Peter Broelman |
