Australian chief says he demanded ‘full accountability’ for Australian’s killing in name with Benjamin Netanyahu.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has slammed Israel’s clarification for the killing of seven help employees in Gaza as “not good enough”, as outrage over the assault continues to reverberate globally.
Australian girl Zomi Frankcom was certainly one of seven staff of World Central Kitchen (WCK) who have been killed on Monday when their convoy was struck by an Israeli air strike in central Gaza.
A US-Canadian twin citizen, a Pole, a Palestinian and three nationals of the UK have been additionally killed in what the US-based charity described as a “targeted attack”.
Albanese, who earlier this week described Frankcom’s demise as “beyond any reasonable circumstances”, on Thursday mentioned that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks that harmless individuals get killed in struggle have been unacceptable.
“We need to have accountability for how it has occurred, and what is not good enough is the statements that have been made, including that this is just a product of war,” Albanese mentioned throughout a information convention in Sydney.
“This is against humanitarian law – international humanitarian law makes it very clear that aid workers should be able to provide that aid and that assistance free of the threat of losing their life.”
Albanese mentioned Frankcom’s car had been clearly recognized as belonging to an help organisation and shouldn’t have been in danger.
“Her being killed in this way is a catastrophic event that is devastating for her family but is also felt keenly by our nation,” he mentioned.
The Australian chief mentioned he had spoken with Netanyahu the day before today to demand “full accountability” and that Israel should conduct a clear investigation whose findings are made public “so that we find out how exactly this can occur.”
“There have been too many innocent lives lost in Gaza … It shouldn’t be the case that innocent Palestinians or people assisting them are made to pay the price for the actions of the terrorist group Hamas,” he mentioned.
In a video message on Tuesday, Netanyahu mentioned the killings have been unintended and tragic however that “this happens in war”.
Israel’s Haaretz newspaper reported on Tuesday that an Israeli drone had fired three missiles on the WCK convoy out of a mistaken perception {that a} Hamas member was travelling with them.
The report, which cited unnamed Israeli army sources, mentioned the drone fired on three separate autos in succession, regardless of them being clearly marked with the WCK emblem and even after the help employees knowledgeable the Israeli army that that they had been attacked.
WCK CEO Jose Andres mentioned in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday that the Israeli army had focused his staff “systematically, car by car”.