The United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia have jointly criticized Israel’s determination not to conduct a criminal investigation into military strikes against a World Central Kitchen humanitarian convoy in Gaza, calling the decision “shameful.” The strikes occurred on 1 April 2024 and resulted in the deaths of seven aid workers, including three British nationals, one Australian, one Canadian, one Polish citizen, and a dual US-Canadian citizen.
In their joint statement, the three nations emphasized that the victims and their families “deserve justice and accountability” and pledged to continue pursuing answers. The statement noted that the announcement coincided with World Humanitarian Day, which the countries described as “particularly egregious” timing given that the day honors humanitarian workers’ contributions. The statement also characterized the World Central Kitchen incident as representative of broader accountability failures in Gaza, citing data that 186 humanitarian workers were killed in the region during 2025, making it “the deadliest place to deliver aid.”
Israel’s Defense Forces stated that while there were “serious failures” in the process leading to the killings, the actions of military commanders did not meet the threshold for reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct. The IDF cited several factors in its decision, including that an armed guard accompanying the convoy had not been previously identified to the military and was mistakenly identified as a Hamas fighter. The IDF also stated that the convoy deviated from the pre-coordinated route.
The announcement prompted diplomatic reactions across multiple countries. Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong expressed outrage and noted unresolved questions about why additional strikes occurred minutes after the initial strike. Poland’s foreign ministry summoned Israel’s ambassador to register disappointment. World Central Kitchen founder Jose Andres called the decision “wrong” and “painful” while demanding an independent investigation. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not issue a public response to the three nations’ statement, though he previously characterized the workers’ deaths as unintentional.
Simultaneously, tensions escalated over other Israeli policies. The UK’s Foreign Secretary condemned Israel’s plans to open tenders for approximately 1,200 settlement homes in the occupied West Bank’s E1 area, describing the action as “unacceptable and destructive” and calling for immediate cessation of settlement expansion plans. Israel’s Foreign Minister rejected these criticisms. Separately, the IDF announced it would initiate criminal investigations into two other incidents involving Palestinian deaths in 2024 and 2025.
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