Australia has hauled in Israel’s ambassador and voiced sharp anger after Israel’s military decided not to pursue criminal proceedings over the killing of Australian aid worker Lalzawmi “Zomi” Frankcom in a 2024 airstrike in Gaza.
The Israeli military said yesterday that a fact-finding and assessment procedure had found no basis to open a criminal investigation into the deaths of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers, including Frankcom.
“This decision falls far short of the accountability we expect,” Foreign Minister Penny Wong said, adding that Australia was outraged by the decision.
“Democracies seek, and accept higher standards. The Australian government will not stop pressing Israel for justice for Zomi and her colleagues.”
Ms Wong said she had instructed Australia’s envoy in Israel to deliver Canberra’s position directly to the Israeli government as the federal government weighs its next steps.
Lalzawmi “Zomi” Frankcom was one of seven aid workers killed by an Israeli airstrike in 2024
The strike sparked widespread condemnation from the United States and other allies, after the dead were identified as citizens of Britain and Poland, Palestinians and a dual US-Canadian citizen, alongside the Australian.
Hillel Newman, Israel’s ambassador to Australia, said the investigation determined there was no criminal liability for the soldiers involved, while acknowledging operational failures by the Israeli military.
“It was a mistake, in retrospect, but the findings of the court are that there was no criminal intention, no intention to hit at aid workers, and therefore no criminal responsibility,” Mr Newman told reporters in Canberra after meeting Wong.
Mr Newman said the aid convoy had strayed from a pre-approved route and may have included armed personnel — circumstances that, he said, led the Israeli military to believe the vehicles had been taken over by Hamas.
More than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since the start of the Gaza war in 2023, with thousands more killed in Israeli military operations in southern Lebanon. The dead include aid workers, doctors, journalists and others.
Israel’s military says its operations are aimed at Hamas and Hezbollah militants, and it says it opens investigations into some incidents in which civilians are killed.
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