The NYT obtained and examined visual evidence and internal communications about six aid group operations that were targeted by airstrikes even after their locations were shared with the Israeli military.
The six aid groups are Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), International Rescue Committee (IRC), Enabel, ANERA and World Central Kitchen (WCK). All are in direct communication with the military and are based in Western nations that are known to be Israel’s strongest allies.
The investigation notes that even though the Israeli military uses a system known as deconfliction, where aid groups share locations with the army to avoid being caught in friendly fire in war-torn areas, incidents still occurred.
The NYT highlights the many times aid workers have been attacked even though the system was used. Although the World Central Kitchen workers coordinated their location with the military and traveled in a clearly marked vehicle, their envoy was still attacked, killing seven aid workers, which Israel had called a mistake.
The American aid group ANERA shared emails with the NYT, revealing that the group had repeatedly sent Israeli military coordinates and photographs of its personnel shelters.
This included a two-story residential building where aid worker Mousa Shawna and his six-year-old son were residing when it was hit by an Israeli airstrike weeks before the WCK incident. The military confirmed that the location was being processed in their system.
Images taken after airstrikes against MSF, MAP and IRC compounds show clearly marked buildings and logos visible on bedding and luggage among the rubble.
The military claimed they were targeting “terrorist activity” at the MSF building, which the group has denied.
“Coordinates had been provided to the appropriate actors for both structures that were affected. “It is common for us to provide coordinates to actors involved in conflicts,” an MSF spokesperson told The New Arab.
The publication obtained text messages between MAP and IRC, revealing that a month before the January 18 attack on their residential complex, the Israeli military was informed of the locations and used “high-level diplomatic channels” to decongest the complex.
The building was also in a neighborhood that Israel had designated as a humanitarian safe zone for civilians.
“The New York Times investigation clearly shows that the Israeli military is responsible for attacks on humanitarian workers, but the Israeli state still faces no responsibility,” Aseel Baidoun, acting director of Advocacy and Development, told The New Arab. MAP campaigns. .
Baidoun also noted that the Israeli government offered six contradictory explanations for the attack.
These ranged from being unaware of the attack and denying any involvement to claiming that the building was misoriented due to a defective missile fin. More recently, Israel claimed that the damage was caused not by a bomb but by a piece of fuselage fired by the pilot of an Israeli fighter jet.
“The variety of responses highlights a continued lack of transparency regarding what happened. “It is clear from this experience that the Israeli military and government are unable or unwilling to properly investigate this serious incident,” Baidoun added, calling for a full, independent, time-bound investigation into the January 18 attack and all reported attacks. against humanitarian workers.
“We need to get concrete assurances from the Government of Israel that there will be no attacks on humanitarian and health workers in the future.”
More than 200 aid workers have been killed since October 7 in Gaza, more than triple the number of aid workers killed in any recorded conflict in a single year, according to the United Nations. Many operations were suspended following the WCK strike, and MAP and IRC were forced to suspend their work at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
In light of the killing of seven WCK aid workers, aid groups have been blunt, saying there is nothing more they can do to protect staff in the Gaza Strip, stating that it is up to Israel to avoid killing them. The United Nations has also called for direct coordination with the Israeli military.