Israeli military fires officers for their roles in strikes that killed 7 aid workers

The Israeli military fired two officers for their role in the attack on an aid convoy in Gaza this week that killed seven World Central Kitchen volunteers, including one American – an incident that's drawn international outrage and which a new Israeli probe says was a mistake carried out after forces misidentified the vehicles carrying aid workers.

The inquiry found Israeli forces struck the World Central Kitchen convoy, which was in the midst of a large-scale humanitarian operation in Gaza, under the belief that they were targeting "Hamas operatives."

"The investigation’s findings indicate that the incident should not have occurred," said an Israeli military statement on the findings, which were shared with officials, the nonprofit and others on Thursday. "The strike on the aid vehicles is a grave mistake stemming from a serious failure due to a mistaken identification, errors in decision-making, and an attack contrary to the Standard Operating Procedures."

More: Pregnant women in Gaza face starvation, no anesthesia amid six months of war

More: Israelis say its hostages have been forgotten and its Oct. 7 trauma has just begun

After reviewing the findings, Herzi Halevi, the Israeli military's chief of the general staff, fired the brigade fire support commander, the brigade chief of staff, and said multiple senior commanders were "formally reprimanded."

In a statement, the World Central Kitchen said it welcomed Israel's decision to dismiss and reprimand the military personnel involved in the strikes but said it's not enough. If Israel doesn't ramp up aid in Gaza and implement systematic changes to ensure the safety of aid workers, "there will be more military failures, more apologies and more grieving families," the group said, adding that it will extend its suspension of operations in Gaza.

The organization also demanded the creation of an independent commission to investigate the strikes, saying "the IDF cannot credibly investigate its own failure in Gaza."

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

The findings were presented to Halevi after President Joe Biden said in a tense phone call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that U.S. support in the Gaza war depends on "immediate" steps to protect civilians and aid workers. After the call, the Israeli government announced plans to increase aid into Gaza, including opening the Erez crossing from Israel into northern Gaza and the Ashdod port and increasing aid deliveries from Jordan.

"As the president said today on the call, U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these and other steps, including steps to protect innocent civilians and the safety of aid workers," National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said after Israel's announcement.

This week marks six months since the start of the war, when Hamas and other militants stormed into southern Israel and killed around 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, and captured more than 240 hostages. In Gaza, over 33,000 Palestinians have been killed during Israel's offensive, which has flattened large swaths of the enclave and internally displaced most of Gaza's 2.3 million people, about half of whom are under 18 years old. With months of only limited humanitarian aid making its way into Gaza, the U.N., humanitarian aid groups and much of the international community have warned that famine is imminent.

Contributing: Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, Dan Morrison, John Bacon, Jorge L. Ortiz

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Israel military fires officers over World Central Kitchen deaths