The Greens have criticised inflammatory statements from the former Israel Defense Forces officer who ordered the attack which killed Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom, accusing the Albanese government of weakness over its failure to halt military exports and impose new sanctions. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing The Guardian.
Australian aid worker Frankcom and six of her colleagues were killed in 2024 while bringing food to the people of Gaza. Former IDF reserve colonel Nochi Mendel has said he would do "exactly the same thing" again and that those killed in the World Central Kitchen (WCK) humanitarian convoy in Gaza were "not innocent".
The statements have been condemned as "utterly disgraceful" by Australia's foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, and as an "outrageous smear" by WCK's humanitarian chief.
But the Greens' defence spokesperson, David Shoebridge, said the government's response was insufficient in the face of Mendel's "reprehensible" statements. He said the comments "reflect the rhetoric and policy of the Israeli government, where collective punishment of aid workers, doctors and innocent civilians is occurring daily".
"I do not care what minister Wong's personal feelings are, I don't care about her outrage, I care about the actions taken as foreign minister," Shoebridge told Guardian Australia.
"Anyone can condemn the actions of the Israeli military, but only the government can impose the sanctions and material responses needed. Until they do their words are distractions."
He called for material reprimand for members of Benjamin Netanyahu's government and for the sale of parts for the F-35 fighter jet to be immediately halted.
José Andrés, the WCK founder, said Mendel had smeared Frankcom and her colleagues.
"Now, one of the officers involved says he isn't sorry for what happened. He said we are not a neutral organisation," he said in a statement published online this week.
"Really? Let me be very clear, to him and to the whole world. We are humanitarians. We are friends of humanity. We believe that food is a universal human right."
Mendel, then the chief of staff of the Nahal brigade, said he gave the order to attack a humanitarian convoy delivering hundreds of tonnes of food to Gaza on the night of 1 April 2024.
Three vehicles in the convoy were attacked along Gaza's coast road, in successive drone strikes, each about two minutes apart. One after another, the three vehicles were bombed, as survivors from the initial strikes ran to the untouched cars, seeking sanctuary.
An IDF investigation found the attack was a grave mistake, identifying specific errors made by a handful of officers, in particular Mendel, who was removed from his position. The victims of the strike were also blamed for hiring armed guards to protect the food aid convoy and for allegedly "deviating" from their agreed route.
Last month, Israel's advocate general declined to press charges against anyone for the deaths, saying there was "no reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct".
Mendel has given interviews to the ABC and the Guardian saying he did not regret the attacks. He told the Guardian he was following IDF protocol, and the humanitarians were marked as targets under an Israeli military practice of establishing guilt by association.
Mendel was referring to a general policy of haflala, "incrimination", which gives commanders in the field wide discretion in designating a person a "terrorist", including those "incriminated" by association.
Mendel told the Guardian while he didn't plan to kill aid workers, those killed "were not innocent because they were connected to Hamas". He did not support this assertion with any evidence. Investigations by the IDF itself and the former head of the Australian military have found no suggestion of any connection between Hamas and World Central Kitchen.
Mendel said he fought in the war in Gaza "to defeat Hamas", and dismissed the seriousness of the killing of seven humanitarians.
"If such an event came before me again, I would do exactly the same thing," he told the Guardian.
"I think it's an idiotic side event. It really isn't a serious event."
Wong, asked about earlier comments from Mendel that he was unapologetic over the strikes, said his statements were extremely distressing for Frankcom's family.
"I thought those comments were disgraceful, utterly disgraceful," she told the ABC. "I don't even want to go into some of the detail of them because I don't want to give them any credence."
Wong said the Australian government was dissatisfied with Israel's decision not to lay criminal charges against those responsible, and would continue to "press for justice".