Australia’s foreign minister has said she is “outraged” over an Israeli military decision not to launch a criminal investigation into the death of aid worker Zomi Frankcom, who was killed in an air strike in Gaza.
Frankcom was an Australian aid worker with World Central Kitchen (WCK) who was killed with six other colleagues in an Israeli attack in April 2024.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a statement the decision “falls far short of the accountability we expect” and summoned the Israeli ambassador.
After meeting Wong, Ambassador Hillel Newman defended the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and its investigation, saying “there was no criminal intention” and therefore “no criminal responsibility”.
Three British nationals, a Palestinian, a Polish national and a dual US-Canadian citizen were also killed in the attack. The UK has yet to comment on the Israeli decision.
Speaking to reporters after meeting Newman, Wong said there were still many “unanswered questions”, including why if the first strike on the convoy was “a catastrophic error”, two further strikes followed, just minutes apart.
She also said the removal of two officers from their positions and the reprimanding of three after an initial probe was “insufficient accountability” for the death of seven people.
Drone audio from the attack had still not been handed over despite requests from the Australian government, she said.
In its statement on Wednesday, the IDF said the presence of an armed guard with the convoy had not been flagged with it before the convoy set off, and that he was falsely identified as a Hamas fighter. It also claimed the convoy had deviated from the route that had been coordinated with the military.
Notwithstanding “serious failures” in the process that led to the killings, “the decisions of the commanders did not raise reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct,” the IDF said.
In the same statement, the IDF also said it had also failed to find grounds for criminal investigation into the killing of four employees of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), who were killed in two separate attacks in November 2023 and February 2024.
In her earlier statement, Wong said the Australian government had learned of Israel’s decision late on Wednesday night, adding that the outcome was “especially insulting” as it occurred on World Humanitarian Day.
“This is despite Israel Defense Forces 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,” she said.
“This decision falls far short of the accountability we expect.”
Wong said the government would continue pressing Israel “for justice for Zomi and her colleagues”.
WCK said the decision was “inconsistent with the full truth” and that the military investigation “conflates different timelines and events” and “shifts the blame for the IDF’s illegal conduct”.
It demanded an independent investigation as “the IDF cannot credibly investigate its own conduct”.
“At the time of the lethal attacks, the IDF knew that our team in Gaza was unarmed and posing a threat to nobody,” it said in a statement. “It had full visual clarity on our clearly marked humanitarian vehicles during the extended, multiple airstrikes. It knew our team’s movements, identities and activities in advance.
“The military investigation conflates different timelines and events, muddies the story and shifts the blame for the IDF’s illegal conduct.”
Wong’s comments mark one of the strongest censures of the Israeli military by Australia since the war in Gaza began, reflecting broader international condemnation of the WCK attack.
Ambassador Newman said there was no intention to kill innocent civilians and that while he could “express deep sorrow and grief” for the families he would not apologise over the deaths as that would have “legal ramifications”.
