The Israeli leadership knows exactly why the relief team was targeted
Haaretz newspaper quoted sources in the Israeli army as saying that the killing of the foreign relief team of the World Central Kitchen organization in the Gaza Strip on Monday evening was due to the behavior of field commanders in the army, and not because of a problem in coordination between the forces and humanitarian organizations as the army and the Ministry of Defense claimed.
The newspaper explained in a report published on Tuesday evening that the lack of discipline of these field commanders and their violation of the rules is what led to the killing of the team consisting of 7 members, as a result of the army targeting their convoy of cars in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
The newspaper quoted sources in the Military Intelligence Division as saying that the Israeli leadership knows exactly the reason for the attack on the relief team’s convoy and that the Southern Command is seeking to evade its responsibility for the attack.
An intelligence source who spoke to Haaretz warned that similar attacks would be repeated if the behavior of some Israeli forces operating in Gaza was not put to an end.
Biden: Israel did not do enough to protect the relief team in Gaza
US President Joe Biden expressed his anger and great sadness at the killing of 7 relief workers from the World Central Kitchen organization – including an American – in an Israeli raid in the Gaza Strip on Monday, and said that Israel did not do enough to protect relief workers.
Biden said in a statement issued on Tuesday that the comprehensive investigation that Israel pledged to conduct into why the relief team was targeted must be rapid, lead to accountability, and its results must be made public.
He added that Israel has not done enough to protect aid workers trying to provide much-needed assistance to civilians.
The US President criticized Israel for not doing what was necessary to protect civilians, noting that his country had repeatedly urged Israel to separate its military operations against Hamas from humanitarian operations to avoid civilian casualties.
Biden stressed that he will continue to pressure Israel to make more efforts to facilitate the arrival of aid.
He also said that the United States is pushing hard for “an immediate ceasefire as part of the hostage deal,” adding that there is an American team in Cairo working on that.
Earlier Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged an “unintentional” strike by the Israeli army on the vehicles of the American organization’s crews, describing what happened as a “tragic accident,” but without offering any apology.
For his part, Israeli President Isaac Herzog apologized following “the tragic death of the World Central Kitchen team in the Gaza Strip, and offered his condolences to their families and relatives,” according to a statement from the Israeli presidency.
