Israel’s military said on Wednesday that the result of a preliminary debrief into the killing of seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) workers by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza was the result of “a misidentification.”

“I want to be very clear the strike was not carried out with the intention of harming WCK aid workers.

“It was a mistake that followed a misidentification at night during a war in very complex conditions. It shouldn’t have happened,” chief of the general staff, Herzi Halevi, said in a video statement.

His statement followed calls by Israeli allies, including the U.S., demanding a full and independent investigation into the incident.

The seven workers from Palestine, Australia, Poland, and Britain, one of them holding dual U.S.-Canadian citizenship, were delivering aid in a convoy to famine-stricken Gaza, said a statement from WCK, a U.S.-based organisation.

They were killed in a “targeted attack” by the Israeli military, said the statement, urging Israel to stop the indiscriminate killing in Gaza. 

(dpa/NAN)