Australia has strongly criticised an Israeli military decision not to pursue a criminal investigation into the deaths of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers, including Australian national Zomi Frankcom.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the removal of two officers and reprimands issued to three others following an initial investigation did not amount to sufficient accountability for the deaths.
Wong also said Australia was still waiting for audio recordings from the drone involved in the attack, despite repeated requests for the material from the Australian government.
Zomi Frankcom case sparks Australian anger
The Israeli Defense Forces said on Wednesday that the convoy had included an armed guard whose presence had not been reported to the military before the vehicles began their journey.
The IDF said the guard was mistakenly identified as a Hamas fighter and alleged that the convoy had moved away from the route previously coordinated with Israeli forces.
While acknowledging “serious failures” in the chain of events leading to the deaths, the IDF said its investigation had found no reasonable grounds to suspect criminal misconduct by the commanders involved.
The military also said it had found no basis for a criminal investigation into the deaths of four Médecins Sans Frontières employees killed in separate incidents in November 2023 and February 2024.
Wong said the Australian government had learned about the decision late on Wednesday and described the timing as particularly offensive because it came on World Humanitarian Day.
She said the IDF had itself acknowledged serious failures in procedures, mistaken identification and errors in decision-making that contributed to the deaths of Frankcom and her colleagues.
“This decision falls far short of the accountability we expect,” Wong said, adding that Australia would continue pushing Israel for justice for Frankcom and the other aid workers.
World Central Kitchen demands independent probe
World Central Kitchen rejected the findings, saying the military investigation was inconsistent with the full facts surrounding the attack.
The organisation accused the investigation of combining separate events and timelines in a way that shifted responsibility away from the Israeli military.
WCK called for an independent investigation, arguing that the IDF could not credibly investigate its own conduct.
The organisation said the Israeli military knew its Gaza team was unarmed and posed no threat. It also said the aid vehicles were clearly marked and that the military had information about the team’s movements, identities and activities before the attack.
Australia and Israel clash over accountability Zomi Frankcom
Wong’s criticism represents one of Australia’s strongest public condemnations of the Israeli military since the Gaza war began.
The dispute centres on the April 2024 attack on a World Central Kitchen convoy in Gaza, which killed Frankcom and six other humanitarian workers.
An investigation led by former Australian Defence Force chief Mark Binskin and released in August 2024 found that serious failures in IDF procedures had contributed to the deaths.
The Israeli military described the attack at the time as a “grave mistake”.
Israel’s ambassador to Australia, Amir Newman, said there had been no intention to kill civilians. While expressing sorrow for the victims’ families, he said he would not apologise for the deaths because he believed an apology could have legal consequences.
He also accused some Australians of being hostile towards Israel.
IDF announces other criminal investigations Zomi Frankcom
The decision involving Frankcom contrasted with other cases announced by the IDF in the same statement.
The Israeli military said it would open a criminal investigation into the deaths of five-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab and six members of her family, who were killed by Israeli forces in Gaza in 2024.
An ambulance that had been sent to rescue Rajab was later shelled, killing two paramedics. The IDF said their deaths would also be investigated.
The military further announced a criminal investigation into the deaths of 15 Palestinians, including medical workers and a UN employee, whose bodies were discovered in shallow graves in March 2025 beside damaged vehicles.
The different decisions have intensified calls for independent investigations into alleged violations involving humanitarian workers and civilians during the Gaza conflict.
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