In Israel, leaked testimony in the WCK case casts doubt on decision regarding Colonel Mendel
In Israel, a leak of testimony in the case concerning the deaths of seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) workers in the Gaza Strip, published by the British outlet the Guardian, has raised new questions about the decision not to bring criminal charges against IDF Colonel Nochi Mendel. As reported by the Jerusalem Post, on August 19, IDF Chief Military Prosecutor Colonel Eli Levrtov concluded that the mistakes made by Mendel and his staff during the strike did not rise to the level of a criminal offense. Mendel was dismissed from his post.
On April 1, 2024, the Israeli military mistakenly struck a WCK convoy, killing seven international food aid workers. Earlier, the IDF legal department explained the absence of charges by saying that Mendel believed the target to be Hamas fighters, and therefore criminal intent would have been impossible to prove.
Contents of the leak
According to the Guardian, the IDF did not dispute the authenticity of the published transcript. In his testimony, Mendel stated that the people accompanying the convoy were near suspected Hamas militants, talked with them, and spent time with them. When asked whether the presence of armed men made the entire convoy a target, he answered affirmatively.
The transcript also quotes Mendel as saying that the military command viewed his unit's previous strikes on convoys that, in the military's view, Hamas was trying to take control of favorably. He noted that in the WCK case, the difference was that foreigners were killed, but did not call it significant.
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IDF position
In a statement dated August 19 and in an additional comment to the Jerusalem Post, the IDF stressed that the army's internal policy does not allow an attack on a humanitarian convoy solely because of the presence of an armed person. At the same time, the military said that Mendel had not violated international law, but had violated the army's stricter internal rules.
According to the IDF's version, before the attack Mendel believed that all the people in the convoy were Hamas fighters, rather than that individual armed persons were among the WCK workers. The military also said that the presence of WCK's armed guard had not been coordinated with the IDF, and that army representatives unsuccessfully tried for 30 minutes to contact the organization to clarify the situation.
An earlier 2024 IDF report stated that Mendel wanted to attack the convoy earlier, but Brigadier General Itzhak Cohen did not approve the request. As follows from the Jerusalem Post's description, Mendel later ordered the strike without referring to Cohen again. The decision not to pursue criminal prosecution may be challenged in Israeli courts.
