{"id":861926,"date":"2026-08-20T11:06:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T11:06:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/861926\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T11:06:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T11:06:13","slug":"an-insult-zomi-frankcoms-family-issues-strongly-worded-statement-as-israel-rejects-criminal-investigation-into-her-killing-australian-foreign-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/861926\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018An insult\u2019: Zomi Frankcom\u2019s family issues strongly-worded statement as Israel rejects criminal investigation into her killing | Australian foreign policy"},"content":{"rendered":"

The family of the slain Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom<\/a> has described a decision by the Israel Defense Forces not to open a criminal investigation into her death as deeply disappointing, and called on the government to push for the release of evidence, including audio from the drone strike.<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s decision prompted outrage from Australia on Thursday. The country\u2019s ambassador to Australia, Hillel Newman, was called in by the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, while the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, expressed \u201coutrage\u201d and insisted he would press for justice for Frankcom and her colleagues.<\/p>\n

Albanese said Frankcom\u2019s family deserved a \u201cfar more transparent and clear explanation\u201d from Israel, and would consider pushing for an independent investigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will press the Israeli government,\u201d the prime minister said on ABC\u2019s 7.30.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe direction, we have said today, we\u2019ll discuss with Ms Frankcom\u2019s family. They deserve to be consulted on these issues, and we\u2019ll do that. And then we\u2019ll make an announcement in coming days.\u201d<\/p>\n

The April 2024 strike hit a convoy of World Central Kitchen vehicles, killing seven employees of the US-based aid group, which has distributed food in Gaza<\/a> throughout the war.<\/p>\n

The group had coordinated with the Israeli military over the movement of its convoy. But its vehicles were left incinerated and mangled after being repeatedly struck.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was not a single, instantaneous strike,\u201d Frankcom\u2019s family said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThree clearly marked humanitarian vehicles traveling in a humanitarian fire control zone were struck successively as survivors attempted to move from one vehicle to another.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The family took exception to the announcement on World Humanitarian Day, which commemorates workers killed while helping others.<\/p>\n

Frankcom\u2019s family had attended an event with Wong only hours earlier, announcing a humanitarian award in Zomi\u2019s name.<\/p>\n

They said the timing of the announcement was \u201can insult\u201d to her memory.<\/p>\n

\u201cZomi and her colleagues deserve more than an internal, opaque process that ends with a short statement by the Israeli Military absolving their soldiers of criminal wrongdoing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The family of Zomi Frankcom \u2013 including her brother Mal Frankcom \u2013 called on Labor to demand full disclosure of the evidence used by Israel. Photograph: Mick Tsikas\/AAP<\/p>\n

They called on Labor to demand full disclosure of the evidence used by Israel and an acknowledgment that the high-level military officer involved in the strikes had been one of 130 signatories to a January 2024 letter calling for a block on aid to Gaza.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also call on the Australian government to pursue all available legal avenues for an independent and credible investigation to be conducted.\u201d<\/p>\n

The IDF said on Wednesday<\/a> it had mistaken several individuals in the vehicles for armed Hamas military operatives, and that the convoy deviated from the previously coordinated route.<\/p>\n

It concluded that \u201cthe decisions of the commanders did not raise reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct\u201d. Two officers were removed from their positions at the time and three others reprimanded.<\/p>\n

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\"WongWong \u2018outraged\u2019 at Israeli decision to not criminally investigate Zomi Frankcom killing \u2013 video<\/p>\n

Wong said she had told Newman \u201cthat Israel\u2019s decision falls far short of the accountability we expect\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cDemocracies seek and accept higher standards,\u201d Wong said. \u201cThe Australian government will continue to keep pressing Israel for justice for Zomi and her colleagues and we will consult with Zomi Frankcom\u2019s family before we announce further steps.\u201d<\/p>\n

She conceded it was a \u201cdifficult time in the relationship\u201d with Israel.<\/p>\n

In question time in Canberra, the prime minister said Israel\u2019s decision was \u201can outrage\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince the tragic killings, the government has consistently made clear our expectation for transparency, and we\u2019ve pressed for full accountability,\u201d Albanese said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Australian government will not stop pressing Israel for justice for Ms Frankcom and her colleagues.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newman said the investigators had found no criminal liability by the soldiers involved, but refused to apologise for the deaths, saying such a move would bring legal ramifications.<\/p>\n

\u201cA court came to a decision that there\u2019s no criminal liability, so we\u2019re not going to lynch people on the streets, no.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were mistakes made by the convoy, but there were mistakes made by Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

The opposition frontbencher James Paterson said Frankcom \u201cnever should have been killed\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a tragedy that she was, and it is incredibly concerning to hear this news out of Israel,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The family of the slain Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom has described a decision by the Israel Defense…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":861927,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-861926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=861926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861926\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/861927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=861926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=861926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=861926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}