Israel's military said Wednesday that the result of a preliminary debrief into the killing of seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) workers by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza was the result of "a misidentification."
"I want to be very clear -- the strike was not carried out with the intention of harming WCK aid workers," Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi said in a video statement. "It was a mistake that followed a misidentification -- at night during a war in very complex conditions," he said. "It shouldn't have happened." His statement followed calls by Israeli allies, including the United States, demanding a full and independent investigation into the incident.
According to a statement from WCK, a U.S.-based organization, the seven staff members -- from Palestine, Australia, Poland, Britain, and one holding dual U.S.-Canadian citizenship -- were delivering aid in a convoy to famine-stricken Gaza.
They were killed in a "targeted attack" by the Israeli military, said the statement, urging Israel to stop "this indiscriminate killing" in Gaza.
