CANBERRA — The Israeli military commander who authorized the April 2024 drone strikes that killed seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers in Gaza has declared he is “not sorry” for his actions.
Speaking in an interview broadcast by Australia’s ABC News, Colonel Nochi Mendel—who was removed as chief of staff of the Israeli military’s Nahal infantry brigade following an internal review—accepted direct responsibility for giving the attack order while defending the operation.
“I’m the commander, and I’m the one who gave the order to carry out the operation,” Mendel stated. “I didn’t run away from the situation… I’m not sorry for what I did”.
The April 1, 2024 attack involved three successive precision drone strikes targeting a clearly marked, three-vehicle WCK convoy traveling along a pre-coordinated route. The strike killed Australian humanitarian worker Zomi Frankcom, Polish national Damian Soból, British nationals John Chapman, James Henderson, and James Kirby, U.S.-Canadian dual national Jacob Flickinger, and Palestinian driver Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha.
While Mendel claimed he did not intend to kill foreign relief workers, he sought to justify the decision by alleging the presence of armed combatants, though he subsequently admitted that “maybe one, or maybe none” were actually killed. Mendel further alleged that WCK was “not really a neutral organization” and claimed it had “ties to Hamas”—allegations leveled without supporting evidence.
World Central Kitchen vehemently rejected Mendel’s remarks, describing the accusations as “false and outrageous”.
“This is the latest attempt to shift blame away from the IDF’s own actions,” a WCK spokesperson told ABC. “The individual making these slanderous claims has no credibility… We demand truth and justice for our seven colleagues who were killed, through a full, independent investigation into the attack”.
The broadcast comes shortly after the Israeli military announced it would not pursue criminal charges against those involved in the attack, prompting joint condemnation from the governments of the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, who called the refusal to prosecute “shameful”.