A series of Israeli failures, including a breakdown in communication and violations of the rules of engagement, led to the deadly airstrikes that killed seven humanitarian aid workers in the Gaza Strip this week, senior Israeli military officials said on Friday.

The military officials said the officers who ordered the strikes on the aid convoy had violated the army’s protocols, in part by opening fire on the basis of insufficient and erroneous evidence that a passenger in one of the cars was armed.

The attack prompted a wave of international outrage and renewed questions about whether Israeli forces on the ground in Gaza properly vet targets before unleashing deadly force. Israel has come under increasing pressure over the high civilian death toll in its six-month war in Gaza. The strikes on the aid workers prompted President Joe Biden for the first time to say he would leverage US aid to influence the conduct of the war against Hamas.

On Friday, the Israeli military announced that two officers — a reserve colonel and a major — would be dismissed from their positions. Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, the Israeli military’s chief of staff, had also decided to formally reprimand the head of Israel’s southern command, as well as two other senior officers, the military said in a statement.

The military said the “grave mistake” had stemmed from “a serious failure due to a mistaken identification, errors in decision-making, and an attack contrary to the standard operating procedures”.

“It’s a tragedy,” Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military’s chief spokesperson, told reporters in a briefing on Thursday night. “It’s a serious event that we’re responsible for, and it shouldn’t have happened.”

World Central Kitchen, the relief group whose aid workers were killed, called the Israeli military’s statements “cold comfort” and reiterated its call for an independent inquiry. The aid organisation’s operations — which have distributed millions of meals to Palestinians in Gaza — remained suspended, the group said.

“It’s not enough to simply try to avoid further humanitarian deaths, which have now approached close to 200,” the group’s founder, José Andrés, said in a statement. “All civilians need to be protected, and all innocent people in Gaza need to be fed and safe. And all hostages must be released.”

According to the military, Israeli forces began striking the World Central Kitchen convoy at 10:09pm (local time) on Monday, as the vehicles made their way along Gaza’s coast. The attack killed six foreign nationals and a Palestinian, all of whom had worked to handle the food aid that had arrived in Gaza by sea.

New York Times News Service