IDF Condemned for Refusal to Probe Deadly Attacks on Doctors Without Borders, World Central Kitchen Staff

The international healthcare charity Médecins Sans Frontières on Thursday joined the humanitarian group World Central Kitchen in demanding that an "impartial investigative body" examine deadly Israeli attacks on its staffers in Gaza, following the Israeli military's announcement that it was closing the cases without opening a criminal investigation.

MSF, also known in English as Doctors Without Borders, noted that the decision by the Israeli military advocate general (MAG) did "not come as a surprise" and was "the predictable output of a military apparatus investigating itself."

The Israel Defense Forces and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, said the France-based organization, have proven themselves "unwilling to respond to the extent of violations that may amount to war crimes emerging from Gaza," with Israeli officials continuing to insist that the IDF has been targeting Hamas with its bombardment of Gaza—despite the fact that the death toll of more than 73,000 Palestinians includes at least 22,000 women and 20,000 children and that healthcare facilities, schools, and at least 92% of residential buildings have been destroyed or damaged in attacks.

In addition, said MSF, 15 staff members of the healthcare organization have been killed by Israeli forces since they began bombarding Gaza in retaliation for a Hamas-led attack in October 2023, including two who were killed in multiple attacks on an aid convoy in Gaza City in November 2023 and two who were killed in a strike on an MSF shelter in Khan Younis in February 2024.

"There is no military objective that justifies the wholesale sacrifice of civilians. And there is no internal military review that can substitute for genuine, independent, and impartial accountability."

MSF submitted those cases to the MAG for review, but along with an attack that killed seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers in April 2024, the military said there was no suspicion of criminal conduct in the assaults on MSF workers.

"This is not justice," said MSF. "Two years of silence, followed by closures that raise more questions than they answer, is unacceptable."

"MSF staff and their family members are dead. Their names are known," the group continued. "Their locations were shared. Their vehicles were identified. We have always maintained that all elements point to a clear responsibility of the Israeli army for the deadly attacks. And yet, those responsible for their deaths have declined to pursue any criminal investigation."

The decision by the MAG makes clear, said the group, that "there is no prospect of accountability within the Israeli legal system for the killing of our staff, just as there has been no accountability for Israel's ongoing genocide against Palestinians."

Following the MAG's announcement on Wednesday, World Central Kitchen issued a statement condemning Israel's "account of the deaths of our seven colleagues on April 1, 2024."

"We fundamentally disagree with their decision about criminal investigations into the IDF airstrikes that killed our team," said WCK. "There has never been any excuse or justification for the attacks, and there is nothing in this account that does so. The decision is inconsistent with the full truth and deeply offensive."

Israeli authorities did not issue a warning to WCK before it attacked the aid organization's convoy, which was traveling through what was supposed to be a deconflicted zone when it was struck.

"At the time of the lethal attacks, the IDF knew that our team in Gaza was unarmed and posing a threat to nobody. It had full visual clarity on our clearly marked humanitarian vehicles during the extended, multiple airstrikes. It knew our team’s movements, identities, and activities in advance," said WCK. "We continue to demand truth and justice for our team and their families. We continue to demand an independent commission to investigate the airstrikes because the IDF cannot credibly investigate its own conduct. And we continue to grieve the loss of our friends."

MSF stressed that Israel's decision to "close" the cases of the attacks "must be understood in their proper context: In Gaza, tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed. Healthcare facilities have been destroyed. Humanitarian convoys have been struck. Journalists, medical personnel, UN personnel, and aid workers have been killed in numbers unprecedented in any recent conflict."

"MSF reaffirms what we have stated since the beginning of this violence: There is no military objective that justifies the wholesale sacrifice of civilians," said the group. "And there is no internal military review that can substitute for genuine, independent, and impartial accountability."

"To our colleagues we have lost," MSF added, "and to the countless civilians and humanitarian workers who have perished in Gaza: We will not let your deaths be filed away as procedural inevitabilities. You deserved protection. You deserve justice."