Australia has summoned the Israeli ambassador and voiced outrage after Israel's military announced it would not open a criminal investigation into the April 2024 airstrike that killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza, including Australian national Zomi Frankcom. The decision, disclosed on World Humanitarian Day, has prompted some of the sharpest Australian criticism of Israel since the war in Gaza began.
The strike hit a convoy of clearly marked World Central Kitchen vehicles on 1 April 2024, killing Frankcom alongside three British nationals, a Palestinian, a Polish national, and a dual US-Canadian citizen. The US-based aid group, which has been distributing food across Gaza throughout the conflict, said it had coordinated its convoy's movements in advance with the Israeli military, and that its vehicles bore the organisation's logo visibly on their roofs. The Israel Defense Forces concluded this week that commanders had mistakenly believed the convoy had been taken over by Hamas — partly because an armed guard had not been flagged to Israeli authorities — and that the convoy had deviated from its agreed route. Notwithstanding what it called "serious failures" in procedures, the IDF said the commanders' decisions "did not raise reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct." Two officers were removed from their positions following an initial inquiry, and three others were reprimanded.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong called the decision "especially insulting" coming on World Humanitarian Day and said it "falls far short of the accountability we expect." Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described it as "an outrage." After being called in for formal talks, Israeli Ambassador Hillel Newman declined to apologise — citing potential legal ramifications — and defended the investigation's findings, saying there had been "no criminal intention" and therefore no criminal liability. He added that "there were mistakes made by the convoy" as well as by Israel. Asked to account for why two further strikes followed what the IDF itself acknowledged may have been an initial error, Newman offered no direct explanation. Australia has also noted that drone audio from the attack has not been released, despite repeated requests, hampering an independent review conducted by former Australian Defence Force chief Mark Binskin, which found "serious failures" in IDF procedures.
World Central Kitchen strongly rejected the IDF's account, saying the military "had full visual clarity on our clearly marked humanitarian vehicles during the extended, multiple airstrikes" and knew the team was unarmed. The organisation demanded an independent investigation, arguing the IDF "cannot credibly investigate its own conduct." In the same statement in which it closed the WCK case, the IDF announced it would open criminal inquiries into the killing of five-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab and the deaths of 15 Palestinians, including medics and a UN worker, in March 2025.
Why this matters: the deaths of the World Central Kitchen workers drew widespread international condemnation in 2024 precisely because the convoy had taken precautions to coordinate with the Israeli military — raising fundamental questions about the protection of humanitarian workers in conflict zones. Australia's response, including directing its own ambassador to Israel to convey its views directly and leaving open the possibility of further diplomatic steps, signals a significant deterioration in bilateral relations. Calls from within Australia's parliament for sanctions and other measures indicate the pressure on the government to move beyond diplomatic protests is growing.