Overview
- A recorded interview made public shows Colonel Nochi Mendel saying he ordered the drone strike on a World Central Kitchen convoy and that he is “not sorry,” and the Israel Defense Forces has declined to open a criminal investigation.
- The strike killed seven WCK aid workers of Palestinian, British, Australian, Canadian and Polish nationality, a loss that prompted the immediate removal of Mendel from his brigade post.
- Mendel told broadcasters he justified the strike after drone operators reported seeing an armed person and alleged links between WCK and militants, claims that WCK called false and outrageous and that shift blame from the military.
- The IDF said its internal review found failures and breaches of procedure in the operation and dismissed commanders, a conclusion critics say falls short because it does not pursue criminal accountability.
- Human rights groups have labeled the attack a likely war crime, governments including the UK, Canada and Australia have condemned the decision not to probe criminally, and aid organizations say the incident worsened humanitarian access and forced some groups to suspend work in Gaza.