The government has said it is “appalled” by Israel’s decision not to bring a criminal investigation against soldiers responsible for an airstrike that killed three British aid workers in Gaza.
Stephen Doughty, the Middle East minister, said Britain had pressed Israel for more than two years to deliver “justice and accountability” for the families of John Chapman, James Kirby and James Henderson, who were among seven aid workers killed in the April 2024 attack on a World Central Kitchen (WCK) convoy.
The Labour MP for Cardiff South and Penarth said in a post on X: “Appalled and angry for the families of John Chapman, James Henderson and James Kirby after the Israeli authorities decided to bring no criminal action over the fatal strikes on a @WCKitchen convoy in Gaza.
“For more than two years, we have pressed the Government of Israel to deliver the justice and accountability that the families deserve. This is not good enough. We have raised this with the Israeli authorities today and will continue to push for urgent answers.”
The Israel Defence Forces confirmed earlier this week that it would not open a criminal investigation into the strikes, which hit three vehicles belonging to WCK.
The charity said at the time that it had coordinated the convoy's movements with the Israeli military, and its vehicles were clearly marked with the WCK logo.
Israeli authorities said that an armed guard travelling with the convoy had not been flagged to the military before it set off and was wrongly identified as a Hamas fighter, and that the vehicles had deviated from the route that had been coordinated with the military.
The IDF said: "Notwithstanding serious failures in the process that led to the assessment that Hamas operatives were travelling in the vehicles, the decisions of the commanders did not raise reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct. This conclusion was reached in view of the sequence of suspicious indicators and the totality of the operational circumstances.
“Accordingly, it was determined that there is no reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct that would justify the opening of a criminal investigation,” the IDF said.
WCK rejected the findings, saying the decision was “inconsistent with the full truth” and that the military investigation “conflates different timelines and events” and “shifts the blame for the IDF's illegal conduct”.
It called for an independent investigation, saying: “The IDF cannot credibly investigate its own conduct.
"At the time of the lethal attacks, the IDF knew that our team in Gaza was unarmed and posing a threat to nobody," it said in a statement.
"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.
"The military investigation conflates different timelines and events, muddies the story and shifts the blame for the IDF's illegal conduct."
The Australian government also condemned Israel’s decision not to criminally investigate the WCK attack, which killed Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a statement the decision "falls far short of the accountability we expect" and summoned the Israeli ambassador.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military has said criminal investigations would be opened into two prominent incidents of suspected crimes by its forces.
The military police will probe the killing of six-year-old Hind Rajab, six members of her family and two medics in Gaza City in January 2024, as well as the deaths of 15 rescue workers travelling in a convoy of ambulances and emergency vehicles in Rafah in March 2025.
In addition to the WCK strike, the cases that have been closed are the February 2024 strike on a building used by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Khan Younis, which killed two MSF staff members, and the deaths of two other MSF employees travelling in a convoy in Gaza City in November 2023.
Doughty’s comment came less than 24 hours after the Foreign Secretary, Ed Miliband, issued a rebuke to Israel over its plans for construction of a settlement in the E1 area of east of Jerusalem, calling it an “unacceptable and destructive act”.
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