Top IDF Commander in WCK Aid Strike Wanted to Block Humanitarian Supplies Into Gaza

Investigation shows officer signed a letter to Israel’s War Cabinet demanding a ‘siege’ of Gaza City

The most senior IDF commander dismissed for his role in the drone strike which killed seven aid workers in Gaza is a settler who signed an open letter in January calling for the territory to be deprived of aid, The Telegraph can reveal.

A senior British lawyer said its contents – including a call for a “siege” of Gaza City – should be considered by the Israeli authorities investigating the killings.

Col (Res) Nochi Mandel, the chief of staff of the Nahal Infantry Brigade, was one of two officers dismissed last week following the incident in which three vehicles belonging to the charity World Central Kitchen (WCK) were attacked by drones, killing all those inside, including three Britons.

An investigation by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) characterised the strikes as a “grave mistake” but concluded there was no intentional harm. “Those who approved the strike were convinced that they were targeting armed Hamas operatives and not WCK employees,” it said.

In the letter, Col Mandel, a religious nationalist who lives in a settlement in the occupied West Bank, called with more than 130 other reserve officers and commanders for the flow of aid into Gaza to be restricted.

...The letter was sent on January 20 to the Israeli War Cabinet and the IDF chief of staff and implored them to “do everything in your power” not to allow “humanitarian supplies and the operation of hospitals inside Gaza City” following its evacuation.

...Michael Mansfield KC, head of Nexus Chambers and one of Britain’s leading barristers, said the letter should “absolutely” be considered by those investigating the incident.

“The document is plainly relevant to a particular state of mind,” Mr Mansfield said. “In other words it is not indicating that the target of the Israeli army is primarily Hamas but Gaza as a whole by weaponising aid under siege conditions."

Kenneth Roth: The most senior Israeli commander "dismissed for his role in the drone strike which killed seven aid workers" for World Central Kitchen in Gaza "is a settler who signed an open letter in January calling for the territory to be deprived of aid."

🔗Source: The Telegraph

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United Nations secretary-general ... posted on social media that “life-saving supplies”, such as food, fuel and water, “must be allowed into Gaza”.

Israel is enforcing a total siege on Gaza, which is deemed a war crime under the UN’s statutes.

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