A former chief of the Australian Defence Force will act as Australia’s eyes and ears in the Israeli investigation into an air strike that killed seven aid workers, including Zomi Frankcom.
In early April, the Israeli Defence Force launched strikes that killed Australian aid worker Frankcom and six of her World Central Kitchen (WCK) colleagues as they were delivering food in Gaza.
Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong announced retired air chief marshal Mark Binskin would serve as Special Adviser to the government on Israel’s response to the incident.
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“The Australian government has been clear that we expect full accountability for these deaths,” Wong said on Monday.
“The appointment of ACM Binskin will ensure the family of Zomi Frankcom, and the Australian people can have confidence in this process.”
Some of the issues that will be considered include arrangements for the investigation of the incident, IDF policies and procedures for operational incidents, and measures taken to hold those responsible to account.
The special adviser will also examine measures adopted to prevent similar incidents from re-occurring and whether further investigations are warranted.
Binskin served as chief of the Australian Defence Force from 2014 to 2018 and is currently chair of the Civil Aviation Authority and the Pacific Security College.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the deaths of the aid workers was “utterly inexcusable” and that the information provided by Israel so far had not satisfied expectations.
“We would expect that Binskin will be able to work in a way that provides greater information to Australia,” he said on Monday.
“If the investigation finds that the Israeli defence force personnel have not acted in accordance with the law, then appropriate action should be taken, and such action should be made public.”
‘Long history’ of violations
An initial IDF inquiry released on Friday found Israeli forces mistakenly believed they were attacking Hamas gunmen when drones hit three WCK vehicles.
Two IDF officers have been dismissed, and other senior commanders have been formally reprimanded.
UN rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism Ben Saul said it was important for Australia to put pressure on Israel.
“There is a very long history of Israel giving essentially impunity to its own forces where allegations of violations have occurred,” Saul said.
“Israel has been saying it hasn’t been violating international law, and that flies in the face of all available evidence from day one.”
Even if the air strikes were not a deliberate attack on civilians, Prof Saul noted it could still constitute a war crime if Israel’s offensive caused excessive civilian casualties relative to military advantage, or if the state launched strikes that failed to differentiate between targets and civilians.
“Every state has an obligation to respect its international humanitarian law obligations,” he said.
Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson welcomed Binskin’s appointment but claimed it was a double standard that the government had not reacted similarly to the death of Sydney-born woman Galit Carbone, who was killed in Hamas’s October 7 attack.
“Where was the special investigator appointed to her?” he said.
Meanwhile, the Australian Council for International Development, Australian Global Health Alliance, National Council of Churches in Australia and Australian National Imams Council are calling on the government to sanction Israeli officials who have advocated denying aid to Gaza.
Intergenerational conflicts in the Middle East region involving Palestinians and Israelis escalated on October 7 when militants linked to Hamas attacked southern Israel from Gaza.
More than 1200 people died and up to another 200 were taken hostage, according to the United Nations.
Israel’s subsequent military response has killed more than 33,000 people in Gaza, the UN and the local ministry of health say.
More than two million people in Gaza are almost completely reliant on aid shipments and 1.1 million are projected to face “catastrophic levels of food insecurity” as Israel’s siege and ground invasion stretches into its sixth month.
– with Reuters
