Humanitarian groups believe Israeli forces are deliberately targeting them in Gaza, casting doubt on Israel’s claims that airstrikes on aid convoys were “accidental”.

aid workers told I Even though the charity shared location details with the Israeli military, similar incidents continued to happen so often that they believed the attacks were “carried out on purpose.”

On Monday, Israel launched an airstrike on an aid convoy at the World Central Kitchen (WCK) in Gaza, killing seven aid workers, including three Britons. The charity said it had coordinated with the Israel Defense Forces to provide details of its planned operations to the Israeli military in a process known as “deconfliction.”

During the deconfliction process, humanitarian agencies inform relevant military forces of the location of their offices and warehouses, as well as their movements in conflict areas, so that the military can ensure that they are not targeted.

According to Magnus Corfixen, this can include GPS details, geographical location, information about the intended route, the roads they will use, when they will travel, the time of day and vehicle details such as whether it is marked with the organization’s logo. Humanitarian leader at Oxfam.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “Our forces inadvertently harmed non-combatants in the Gaza Strip. This happens in war,” while the IDF said the mistake was due to “misidentification – in war “During the night, conditions were very complicated.”

Coffeyson said it was “difficult to say” what went wrong this time that led to the attack on the convoy.

However, he told I: “This is not the first time this has happened. A considerable number of aid agencies and humanitarian workers have been affected or targeted when the Israelis learned of relevant operations or locations.”

Agencies such as UNRWA, Doctors Without Borders and the International Committee of the Red Cross have all been affected, he said.

According to the aid worker security database, 203 aid workers have been killed since the war began on October 7, when Hamas attacked Israel.

“We have never before seen 200 humanitarian workers lose their lives in such a short period of time,” Mr Coffeyson said. “This has created a lot of distrust in conflict resolution systems and mechanisms.”

Mr Coffeyson said: “As far as I know, the general understanding is that this was done intentionally by the Israeli military because it has happened many times – over and over again.” And it’s not just humanitarian workers: Civilians and hospitals, gave the impression that this was intentional. “It makes no difference day or night,” he added. “

WCK founder José Andrés spoke yesterday about attacks on colleagues, claiming the IDF targeted them “systematically, vehicle by vehicle”.

“We were deliberately targeted without interruption until everyone in the convoy was dead,” he said. “It wasn’t just bad luck, ‘oops’ we dropped the bomb in the wrong place.”

He told Reuters in an emotional video: “The journey was over 1.5 to 1.8 kilometers and there was a very clear humanitarian convoy with signs at the top, on the roof, a very colorful sign… They They targeted us in a deconfliction zone, an area controlled by the Israel Defense Forces. They knew our team was heading down this path.”

Abby Stoddard, a partner at Humanarian Outcomes, a consulting firm that provides research and policy advice to humanitarian aid agencies, noted: “There have been many close calls with international NGOs before WCK, and this is not new. I know one in Gaza. NGO facilities are included in the list of sensitive locations, but such critical situations still occur.

“As of yesterday, 203 aid workers have been killed in Gaza, six international and 197 Palestinians. I think there’s a lot of distrust, fear and anger because of these close calls. It seems intentional. of.”

Aid experts dismiss advice published in Israeli newspaper haaretz, The incident was prompted by rogue field commanders “doing whatever they want in Gaza.”

Ms Stoddard told I Rogue commanders are more likely to emerge from non-state armed groups. “This is common among non-state armed groups that are loosely organized and have little command and control,” she said. “You wouldn’t think this would happen in a modern military.”

White House National Security Council Coordinator John Kirby said Wednesday that the Israel Defense Forces must work to improve the “deconfliction” process.

For agencies working in Gaza, their main point of contact for deconfliction is with the Coordinator of Government Activities in Israel (COGAT), which is part of the Ministry of Defense.

“They will also coordinate with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, who will support your communications. This can be done from 24 hours to a few days in advance.”

“In Gaza, you usually get a response from COGAT saying it approves or disapproves the trip.” He said the same goes for WCK.

Humanitarian experts warned that Monday’s attack on an aid convoy would further erode trust among aid groups in the security of Gaza’s deconfliction process.

“I think there is little trust in the deconfliction system and coordination with COGAT,” Mr. Coffeyson said. Ms Stoddard said the effectiveness of conflict resolution was “mixed” and “a lot of actors don’t trust it”.

She added that “humanitarian agencies are working very hard to make sure everything is deconflicted” but “Israel and the international community need to face up to this issue… They need to restore trust in this.”

Rishi Sunak demanded that Israel explain how the incident happened and take immediate steps to protect aid workers and facilitate vital humanitarian operations in Gaza.

US President Joe Biden said he was “angry and heartbroken” by the attack. “What’s even more tragic is that this is not an isolated incident,” he added. “This conflict is one of the worst in recent years in terms of the number of aid workers killed.”