Key facts
- Seven aid workers were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza on April 1, 2024.
- The victims included three British, one Australian, one Palestinian, one Pole, and one dual US-Canadian national.
- The Israeli military prosecutor decided not to pursue criminal proceedings for the incident.
- The IDF used a practice known as 'haflala' (incrimination by association) in designating targets.
- A reserve colonel ordered the strikes after assuming the aid workers were associated with Hamas.
- World Central Kitchen stated their vehicles were clearly marked and the team posed no threat.
Seven aid workers from World Central Kitchen (WCK) were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza on April 1, 2024, despite the convoy being clearly marked and its movements coordinated with the Israeli military. A Guardian investigation reveals that the strike may have been influenced by an Israeli military practice known as 'haflala,' or incrimination by association, which allows commanders broad discretion in designating targets.
According to interviews with senior Israeli officers, the reserve colonel who ordered the strikes, Nochi Mendel, deemed the WCK workers potential targets after they had a brief encounter with armed guards, whom he assumed were Hamas militants. Mendel stated that being 'near them, talking, playing, hanging out' constituted 'mixing together' and made the entire convoy a target, concluding, 'They were not innocent because they were connected to Hamas.'
Despite the official IDF version suggesting specific mistakes by a few officers and blaming the victims for hiring armed guards and deviating from their route, the investigation suggests these explanations glossed over the systemic practice of 'haflala.' This policy endangers aid workers and civilians, particularly when combined with the army's broad mission to end Hamas's control in Gaza. The army's internal data indicates that over three-quarters of the more than 70,000 Palestinians killed in the Gaza war have been civilians.
Colonel Mendel's unit was reportedly commended for similar actions against alleged Hamas commandeering of aid, with Mendel noting the killing of foreign nationals was the 'whole difference,' not a 'substantive difference.' The strikes were reportedly not based on an imminent threat to Israeli lives but on fulfilling the mission to thwart Hamas attempts to control aid deliveries.
World Central Kitchen condemned the Israeli decision not to pursue criminal proceedings as 'inconsistent with the full truth and deeply offensive,' emphasizing their team was unarmed and posed no threat, and that the IDF had full visibility of their clearly marked vehicles. Britain, Australia, and Canada denounced the decision as 'shameful' and vowed to seek answers. The UK has opened an inquest into the deaths of the three British team members.
Questions have been raised about Mendel's motives, as he is a settler who reportedly signed a letter calling for restricted aid flow to Gaza. However, IDF officers familiar with the incident suggested that, given standing procedures, many officers would have acted similarly. Brigadier General Oren Solomon explained that once a vehicle is incriminated as Hamas-related, 'death comes' to anyone escaping it, adhering to incrimination rules. Conversely, a senior officer involved in the initial investigation argued Mendel overstepped, stating subsequent strikes were contrary to orders as the individuals emerging from the vehicle were not armed.