Israel’s ambassador to Australia has been summoned for a rebuke after the country cleared its military of any criminal wrongdoing over an attack in Gaza that killed seven aid workers, including Australian Zomi Frankcom.

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) decided there was “no reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct” in the strike on the World Central Kitchen (WCK) workers in April 2024 as they delivered humanitarian aid to a warehouse.

The formal IDF decision came hours after Foreign Minister Penny Wong called for “full accountability” over the deaths, as she honoured Frankcom at an event in Canberra on Wednesday to launch a humanitarian award in her name.

Wong released a strongly worded statement on Thursday morning, expressing Australia’s outrage and pointing out she learnt of Israel’s decision on World Humanitarian Day moments before it was announced – a fact that was “especially insulting to Zomi’s loved ones, humanitarians and all Australians”.

“This decision falls far short of the accountability we expect,” Wong said.

“Democracies seek and accept higher standards. The Australian government will not stop pressing Israel for justice for Zomi and her colleagues.”

The foreign minister added that she will call in Israel’s ambassador – a process where a diplomat is summoned for a formal warning or dressing down – and that Australia was considering its next steps.

The outcome was one of five IDF reports issued on Wednesday into separate incidents. In one case, which made global headlines, five-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab died in January 2024 after pleading to be rescued from an attack that had killed her aunt, uncle and three cousins.

The IDF ruled there should be a criminal investigation by the Military Police into the death of Rajab, her family members, as well as paramedics who sought to come to her aid.

In a second case, the IDF decided there should also be a criminal investigation into an ambush by Israeli forces that killed 15 Palestinians including medical personnel as well as a United Nations employee in March 2025.

The decision on Frankcom and her colleagues outraged WCK, which condemned the outcome and called for an independent inquiry into the airstrikes on the grounds that the Israeli military could not credibly investigate its own conduct.

Frankcom, 43, and six colleagues died on April 1, 2024 when the vehicle they were travelling in was fired upon while delivering aid in Gaza.

The IDF said its officers had “mistakenly believed that the vehicles contained Hamas military operatives and therefore struck the vehicles”.

It claimed that attempts were made to contact WCK representatives during “the approximately half-hour period in which the convoy vehicles were tracked on the understanding that they contained Hamas operatives”, but those attempts were unsuccessful.

The Israeli military said the presence of armed security to accompany the convoy “was not coordinated with IDF authorities” and the vehicles had deviated from the route arranged in advance, while several people were also mistakenly identified as armed persons.

“Following review of all findings of the factual assessment, it was determined that, 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,” the IDF said.

It added that there was “no reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct that would justify the opening of a criminal investigation”.

Two Israeli officers were dismissed from their positions and three senior officers were formally reprimanded, according to the Israeli military.

WCK said it fundamentally disagreed with the decision not to pursue a criminal investigation.

“We strongly condemn the Israeli military prosecutor’s account of the deaths of our seven colleagues on April 1, 2024,” the aid organisation said in a statement.

“There has never been any excuse or justification for the attacks, and there is nothing in this account that does so. The decision is inconsistent with the full truth and deeply offensive.”

Wong spoke in Canberra on Wednesday at a Parliament House event attended by Frankcom’s family to launch the Zomi Frankcom Humanitarian Award.

“Two years on from Zomi Frankcom’s death, the pain of her loss remains with us,” she said.

“People like Zomi are rare, and their courage deserves to be celebrated.

“I want to make it clear that the Australian government continues to press the Israeli government for full accountability for the deaths of Zomi and her World Central Kitchen colleagues. Zomi and her family deserve justice.”

In a report released in July 2024, former Australian Defence Force chief Mark Binskin found that “a significant breakdown in situational awareness” by the Israeli military caused the strike that killed Frankcom, adding he did not believe the charity workers were deliberately targeted.

The IDF said its Fact-Finding and Assessment Mechanism (FFAM) had reviewed approximately 150 incidents since the beginning of the war, then transferred them for examination by the Military Prosecution.

Rajab and her family were trapped in a vehicle under fire in Gaza City in January 2024, while she pleaded for help by phone with her cousin Layan Hamada beside her.

The IDF concluded that in the hours shortly after the firing, following a telephone call to rescue authorities, the movement of a Palestine Red Crescent ambulance was coordinated for the purpose of evacuating the casualties.

“However, according to the allegations raised, upon the ambulance’s arrival at the scene of the incident, a shell was fired toward it, resulting in the deaths of the two paramedics travelling in it,” the IDF said.

“Several days later, the bodies of the seven members of the Hamada family, including the bodies of Hind and Layan, were recovered from the vehicle. In addition, the bodies of the two paramedics were recovered from the ambulance.

“It has been decided to initiate a criminal investigation of the incident by Military Police Criminal Investigation Division (MPCID). In light of this decision, no further details can be provided beyond the above with respect to the aspects arising from the FFAM’s review.”

The 15 Palestinian paramedics were killed as they drove in the southern city of Rafah in March 2025.

The IDF decided not to take criminal action over the killings of four staffers from Doctors Without Borders in two separate instances in November 2023 and February 2024.

On Wednesday, an Israeli airstrike killed nine Palestinians at a police station in Gaza, medics said.

Medics and police sources said several officers were among those killed at what the Hamas-led interior ministry said was the headquarters of the municipal police. Fifteen others were wounded.

The Israeli military said it had struck Hamas militants who “operated from the civilian police station” to advance attacks against its troops.

with Reuters