In its statement on Wednesday, the IDF said the presence of an armed guard with the convoy had not been flagged to it before the convoy set off, and that he was falsely identified as a Hamas fighter. It also accused the convoy of deviating from the route co-ordinated with the military.
Notwithstanding “serious failures” in the process that led to the killings, “the decisions of the commanders did not raise reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct,” the IDF said.
Prior to the statement by the three countries, Australia summoned Hillel Newman. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said her country was “outraged” by the Israeli government’s decision.
She also said there were still many “unanswered questions” about the strikes, including why, if the first strike on the convoy was “a catastrophic error”, two further strikes followed just minutes apart.
Poland’s foreign ministry also said on Thursday that it was “very disappointed” and had summoned Israel’s ambassador in Warsaw.
The founder of World Central Kitchen, Jose Andres, described the decision as “wrong” and “painful for all of us”, demanding an independent commission to investigate.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not publicly responded to the latest statement from the UK, Australia and Canada, but he previously said that the military had “unintentionally” killed the volunteers.
The statement came after a harsh exchange of words between UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar over Israel’s plans to open tenders for the construction of about 1,200 settlement homes in a strategically important part of the occupied West Bank.
Israeli settlements are illegal under international law and plans to build in the so-called E1 area – east of Jerusalem – have long been internationally condemned.
Miliband condemned the publication of the tender as “an unacceptable and destructive act”, and called on Israel to “halt E1 plans immediately, retract the tender and stop all settlement expansion”.
In response, Saar said on social media that he rejected “outright” Miliband’s statement.
“The Jewish people have the right to live throughout the Land of Israel, just as the British have the right to live in London and throughout the United Kingdom,” he wrote.
