Australia's top diplomat says 'difficult time' in relationship with Israel

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong acknowledged on Thursday that it was a "difficult time" in the country's relationship with Israel after its decision not to pursue a criminal investigation into the killing of aid workers.

"We have an Australian humanitarian worker who was killed not on the first strike, but in the context of three separate strikes on a humanitarian convoy," Wong told journalists in Canberra following a meeting with the Israeli ambassador Hillel Newman.

Australia has summoned Israel’s ambassador after the Israeli military decided not to pursue criminal proceedings over the 2024 drone strikes in Gaza that killed Australian aid worker Lalzawmi Zomi Frankcom and six World Central Kitchen colleagues.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia was “outraged” by the outcome of the Israeli investigation, arguing that it “falls far short of the accountability we expect” for the deaths of seven humanitarian workers travelling in a clearly marked aid convoy.

Frankcom, 43, was among the World Central Kitchen workers killed on April 1, 2024, when Israeli drone strikes hit a three-vehicle convoy after it had helped unload food aid delivered by sea to Gaza.

The other victims were three British nationals, a Palestinian, a Polish national and a dual US-Canadian citizen.

‘Insufficient accountability’

Israel’s military investigation found “serious failures” in the strike, but concluded there was no reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct that would justify a criminal investigation or charges against the personnel involved.

The IDF had earlier removed two officers from their posts and formally reprimanded three others.

After meeting Foreign Minister Wong in Canberra, Israeli Ambassador Hillel Newman defended the outcome.

He said the incident had been a mistake but that Israeli investigators had found no criminal intent — and therefore, in his view, no criminal responsibility.

Wong rejected that assessment, saying the administrative measures against officers were not an adequate response to the deaths of seven aid workers.

She raised continuing questions about why two further strikes followed after the initial attack on the convoy, despite the first strike being described as a catastrophic error.

Calls for full disclosure

The Australian government has repeatedly sought access to audio from the drone operation that struck the convoy, Wong said. The recording has still not been provided, leaving unanswered questions for Frankcom’s family and for Canberra about how the attack unfolded.

Wong also condemned the timing of Israel’s announcement.

Australia learned of the decision late Wednesday, shortly before it was publicly announced on World Humanitarian Day — an occasion dedicated to recognizing aid workers and those killed while delivering relief.

She called the timing especially insulting to Frankcom’s relatives, humanitarian organizations and Australians, The Guardian reported.

Diplomatic pressure grows

Calling in an ambassador is among the strongest routine diplomatic measures available to a government short of formal sanctions, downgrading relations or expelling an envoy.

It signals that Canberra regards the issue as more than a disagreement over an internal military inquiry.

The Frankcom case has become a symbol of the hazards faced by aid organizations operating in Gaza, where humanitarian groups have warned that workers, civilians and relief deliveries remain exposed to military operations despite coordination procedures intended to protect them.

World Central Kitchen temporarily paused its Gaza operations after the attack, though it later resumed aid work.

The strike also intensified international scrutiny of Israel’s conduct of military operations and of the mechanisms used to investigate allegations of violations.

Australia’s position is clear: it is not disputing that the Israeli military has acknowledged serious failures.

It is disputing the conclusion that those failures warrant no criminal investigation, no criminal proceedings and no fuller disclosure of the evidence surrounding the deaths.