IDF Spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari on World Centeral Kitchen Incident
2 April 2024 Yitzhak ben Moshe
Mistakes happen. During the time of war, mistakes can be deadly. In Gaza, the IDF killed employees of the World Central Kitchen.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged that the IDF had carried out the “unintended strike … on innocent people.” He said officials were looking into the strike and would work to ensure it did not happen again.
“In Gaza,” says Avi Zimmermann, “the IDF is working in tight quarters, and things like these deaths can happen.”
Avi Zimmermann has served in the IDF and the United States Military.
“This tight quarters is not an excuse for what happened, and should never have happened,” says Zimmermann, “but it can happen, friendly fire.”
In military terminology, friendly fire is an attack by belligerent or neutral forces on friendly troops while attempting to attack enemy/hostile targets. Examples include misidentifying the target as hostile, crossfire while engaging an enemy, long range ranging errors or inaccuracy.
“The worst thing that can happen is knowing you are the one behind a friendly-fire death,” says Msg. T. Young, United States Army. “The impact on the troop who pulled the trigger, the impact on unit morale, it can be devastating.”
The Israeli Defense Force has vowed complete transparency as the look into the tragic deaths of the World Central Kitchen workers in Gaza.
Unlike most countries in the world, Israeli citizens do not place their military on a pedestal. Much of the population, at one time or another, has served in the IDF and know how the system works.
For officers in the IDF, they must follow mandatory reporting, especially in incidents involving deaths under friendly fire.
“A military that can be self-critical and acknowledges its mistakes,” says Msg. Young, “helps the IDF stand above those in Hamas who would cover up such an incident or provide misinformation as truth.”
“In the days to come,” says Avi Zimmermann, “we will see the results of the IDF investigation. There will be accountability, and then some changes in how targets are selected, and engaged.”
Announcement by the IDF Spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, following the World Central Kitchen incident:
“Last night, an incident took place in Gaza that resulted in the tragic death of World Central Kitchen employees as they fulfilled their vital mission of bringing food to people in need.
As a professional military committed to international law, we are committed to examining our operations thoroughly and transparently.
I just spoke to WCK Founder, Chef Jose Anders, and expressed the deepest condolences of the Israel Defense Forces to the families and the entire World Central Kitchen family.
We also express sincere sorrow to our allied nations who have been doing and continue to do so much to assist those in need.
We have been reviewing the incident at the highest levels to understand the circumstances of what happened and how it happened.
We will be opening a probe to examine this serious incident further. This will help us reduce the risk of such an event from occurring again.
The incident will be investigated in the Fact Finding and Assessment Mechanism: an independent, professional, and expert body.
For the last few months, the IDF has been working closely with the World Central Kitchen to assist them in fulfilling their noble mission of helping bring food and humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. WCK also came to help Israelis after the massacre of October 7th; they were one of the first NGOs here.
The work of WCK is critical; they are on the frontlines of humanity.
We will get to the bottom of this and we will share our findings transparently.”
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