Australian PM Expresses Anger to Netanyahu in Call
(Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he expressed “anger and concern” over the death of an Australian aid worker during a telephone call with Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu.
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The two leaders spoke Wednesday morning, Albanese told reporters in Canberra, following the announcement that Australian citizen Zomi Frankcom was among seven aid workers with World Central Kitchen who were killed in an Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip.
Read more: World Central Kitchen Says Israel Strike on Gaza Kills Staff
“This is someone who was volunteering overseas to provide aid through this charity. This is completely unacceptable,” Albanese said. “When I spoke with the prime minister, I emphasized the importance of full accountability and transparency.”
Albanese said there must be a thorough investigation into the killing of the aid workers, and added that Netanyahu had committed to doing so. The Israeli PM had previously said the killings were unintentional and that Israel would “do everything so that this does not happen again.”
Australia has been a longtime friend of Israel, however the huge civilian death toll from the war in Gaza has tested the limits of Canberra’s support for Netanyahu’s administration. Albanese’s center-left Labor government has previously voted in favor of a ceasefire at the United Nations.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong echoed Albanese’s comments in an interview with Sky News on Wednesday and demanded accountability from Israel.
“We are outraged by what has occurred,” she said. “I want to start by honoring the life of Zomi Frankcom, someone whose life was dedicated to the service of others, and I want to express to her family and those who loved her that Australians mourn with her.”
The war in Gaza started shortly after the militant group Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and abducting some 250 others. Israel initiated a military campaign against the group, which is designated a terrorist organization by the US and European Union, in a conflict that has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians, according to authorities in the Hamas-run enclave.
The UK government said Tuesday it had summoned Israel’s ambassador in the wake of the killings, with Foreign Secretary David Cameron calling the deaths “completely unacceptable.”
(Adds comment from Australian foreign minister in sixth-seventh paragraphs. An earlier version of this story was corrected.)
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