LONDON (Reuters) – Reaction from around the world to an Israeli inquiry into the killing of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in an air strike in Gaza. The report found serious errors and breaches of procedure by the Israeli military, and two officers were dismissed.
U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTONIO GUTERRES
“The Israeli government has acknowledged mistakes. But the essential problem is not who made the mistakes, it is the military strategy and procedures in place that allow for those mistakes to multiply time and time again.
“Fixing those failures requires independent investigations and meaningful and measurable changes on the ground.”
“196 humanitarian workers have been killed and we want to know why each one of them was killed.”
U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE ANTONY BLINKEN
“It’s very important that Israel is taking full responsibility for this incident. It’s also important that it appears to be taking steps to hold those responsible accountable.
“Even more important is that steps are being taken going forward to ensure that something like this can never happen again.
“As Israel pursues any military operations against Hamas, it has to prioritize the protection of civilians. It has to make that job number one.
“Too many people have been caught in the crossfire of Hamas’ making – children, women, men, losing their lives. Their safety has to be a priority and military operations need to be designed around their protection, not the other way around.”
WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN
“The IDF has acknowledged its responsibility and its fatal errors in the deadly attack on our convoy in Gaza. It is also taking disciplinary action against those in command and committed to other reforms. These are important steps forward.
“However it is also clear from their preliminary investigation that the IDF has deployed deadly force without regard to its own protocols, chain of command and rules of engagement.
“Without systemic change, there will be more military failures, more apologies and more grieving families.
“We demand the creation of an independent commission to investigate the killings of our WCK colleagues. The IDF cannot credibly investigate its own failure in Gaza.”
UK FOREIGN MINISTER DAVID CAMERON
“We are carefully reviewing the initial findings of Israel’s investigations into the killing of WCK aid workers and welcome the suspension of two officers as a first step.
“These findings must be published in full and followed up with a wholly independent review to ensure the utmost transparency and accountability.
“Lessons must be learnt from today’s initial findings from the IDF.
“It’s clear major reform of Israel’s deconfliction mechanism is badly needed to ensure the safety of aid workers.”
(Reporting by Reuters bureaux; Editing by Toby Chopra and Cynthia Osterman)
