The family of Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom, who was killed in an Israeli strike while delivering humanitarian aid in Gaza in 2024, has slammed the Israeli military's decision not to pursue criminal charges against the commanders who ordered the attack.
The statement, issued by Zomi's brother Mal on behalf of the Frankcom family, said family members were "deeply disappointed" by the decision, having spent the past two years waiting for justice while "hoping and calling for an independent criminal investigation".
"Zomi and her colleagues deserve more than an internal, opaque process that ends with a short statement by the Israeli military absolving their soldiers of criminal wrongdoing," they said.
Ms Frankcom was one of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed on April 1, 2024, while taking part in a convoy helping to deliver food and other supplies to northern Gaza.
The group was travelling in three armoured cars branded with the World Central Kitchen logo, and driving through part of the Gaza Strip that had been declared a "humanitarian fire control zone" while coordinating movements with the IDF (Israel Defense Forces).
An Israeli drone fired three missiles at the convoy — one at each of the cars in succession — as survivors of the initial strike attempted to move from one vehicle to another.
An Australian investigation into the Israeli government's response to the incident, led by retired defence chief Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin, found the deaths had been the result of the first vehicle being misidentified due to a number of factors, including the presence of armed security in the vicinity, confirmation bias and a "failure within the IDF to fully disseminate and/or read the detailed movement plan approved by the convoy".
The subsequent strikes were also found to be a breach of IDF procedures and the rules of engagement, echoing the findings of a rapid FFAM ("fact-finding and assessment mechanism") investigation conducted by the IDF in the days following the incident.
Two IDF officers were fired in the weeks after the strikes, while others were reprimanded.
In their statement released on Thursday evening, Ms Frankcom's family expressed disagreement with the finding that there was no wrongdoing involved that merited at least a criminal investigation, highlighting the follow-up strikes as well as the fact that one of the officers involved had reportedly signed a letter earlier that year calling for the flow of aid to Gaza to be restricted.
They also expressed outrage at the timing of the announcement, which came on World Humanitarian Day, an internationally recognised day dedicated to those who have died working for humanitarian causes.
The family had been standing alongside Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong at an event at Parliament House just hours prior to the announcement, launching a humanitarian award in Ms Frankcom's name.
Senator Wong similarly expressed anger at the announcement, saying she had no confidence in the IDF's findings, and calling in Israel's ambassador to Australia, Hillel Newman, to explain the decision.
Calling today's events a "difficult time" in diplomatic relations with Israel, she said she was informed of the IDF's decision just minutes before it was publicly announced, and did not have time to alert Ms Frankcom's family.
