Canada has strongly condemned the Israeli military's decision not to pursue a criminal investigation into the April 2024 attack that killed seven World Central Kitchen humanitarian workers, including Canadian citizen Jacob Flickinger.
Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand described the Israeli decision on Thursday as "unacceptable."
"Serious failures were identified in the conduct of the strike, and closing the case without further accountability leaves their families without the answers they have sought for more than two years," Anand said.
"Humanitarian workers delivering food and other life-saving assistance in conflict zones must be protected," she added.
Canada expects international humanitarian law to be upheld and will continue pressing for a full accounting of what happened, along with justice for the seven workers who were killed and their families, the Canadian top diplomat said.
'No excuse or justification'
The Israeli military on Wednesday said it would investigate two suspected war-crimes cases in besieged Gaza while closing three other high-profile investigations, including the attack on World Central Kitchen staff.
Seven WCK aid workers in April 2024 when Israeli military struck their convoy after it unloaded 100 tonnes of food in besieged Gaza brought by sea.
Israeli military tracked the convoy for almost two kilometres, striking each car in succession, according to WCK, adding that the vehicles were marked with WCK’s brightly coloured logos, and the army knew their exact movements.
Those seven workers – Australian, British, Palestinian, Polish, and dual US-Canadian nationals – were killed despite what WCK was a “clear communication” with the Israeli military.
