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Support is growing for a joint international criminal investigation into the drone strike that killed Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom, as Palestinian advocates call for Israeli military veterans visiting Australia to be subjected to police questioning.
The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) wrote to Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke this week to raise concerns about the former soldiers, including some who have recently served in Gaza and Lebanon, who are set to participate in Sunday’s Sydney Marathon as part of a charity fundraiser.
This masthead reported this week that international law experts had called for Australia, Britain and Canada to consider launching an MH17-style investigation into the 2024 attack on the World Central Kitchen convoy after Israeli authorities declined to press charges.
With Foreign Minister Penny Wong to meet shortly with the Frankcom family to discuss the government’s response, Independent MP Zali Steggall said: “The Albanese government must seriously and urgently consider an international investigation by Australia, Canada and the UK into the killing of Australian humanitarian worker Zomi Frankcom and her colleagues in an IDF strike.
“Any such investigation must be pursued in close consultation with, and with the support of, Zomi’s family.
“Zomi was killed while doing some of the most important work there is – delivering food and aid to people in desperate situations.”
Steggall, who has championed Frankcom’s cause in parliament, said that an “independent investigation of the kind being proposed offers a chance to truly establish the facts, ensure the evidence is independently tested, and determine whether those responsible should be held to account”.
Independent senator David Pocock also backed calls for Australia, Canada and Britain to pursue an MH17-style investigation.
“An MH17-style investigation would create a mechanism to pursue criminal prosecutions, even in absentia. I think this is an avenue worth pursuing in seeking to try and achieve some form of justice for Zomi and her family,” he said.
Chris Sidoti, a member of the United Nations commission of inquiry into Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, said that such an investigation “would be much better, more thorough and independent than anything done to date”.
The idea does not have universal support among experts, however.
Associate Professor Carrie McDougall, a former Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade lawyer who advised the government on its response to the downing of MH17 and now works at Melbourne Law School, said that calls for a similar joint criminal investigation were “entirely misplaced”.
While Frankcom’s killing was a “terrible tragedy”, McDougall said the available evidence did not support the conclusion that a war crime had been committed.
“It is unlikely a member of the Australian Defence Force would be prosecuted in similar circumstances,” said McDougall, an expert in international criminal law at the University of Melbourne.
McDougall said that she had no doubt the Israeli military had committed war crimes in Gaza, but she was uncomfortable with Australia and other Western nations singling out the deaths of their citizens for extraordinary action when tens of thousands of Palestinians had also been killed in the war.
Greens senator David Shoebridge said: “A joint investigation, like followed the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, is one avenue for accountability.
“But we also need to be realistic; that investigation had the backing of a unanimous UN Security Council resolution.
“I have seen no evidence that the US would back any independent investigation into Israel.”
Shoebridge continued: “The Australian government should take action itself; it can do that in co-ordination with other nations, but it must act.”
‘An MH17-style investigation … is an avenue worth pursuing in seeking to try and achieve some form of justice for Zomi and her family.’
Senator David Pocock
Just days after the Australian government expressed its outrage over the decision not to pursue criminal charges over Frankcom’s killing, a group of about 40 Israelis, including military veterans, arrived to participate in the Sydney Marathon and associated Jewish community events.
They are running to raise funds for Shalva, an Israeli charity that supports people with disabilities and their families.
Sidoti said that federal police should question any visiting former soldiers who served in Gaza. He said he was especially concerned that a former deputy commander in the Israeli military’s Golani Brigade was among those participating in the marathon.
“The Golani Brigade is probably the most notorious brigade in the Israeli military. It is one of the worst performing, most criminally accused brigades,” Sidoti said.
“These soldiers should be greeted at the border, and if they have served in units suspected of war crimes, they should be held and interviewed, or turned back home.
“We have an obligation under international law to investigate possible war crimes.”
Israel’s military advocate general last week said it had “a reasonable suspicion of criminal misconduct” in an infamous 2025 attack by the Golani Brigade that killed a convoy of humanitarian workers, including eight members of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society. A criminal investigation into the incident has been launched in Israel.
This masthead is not alleging that any of the former soldiers visiting Australia for the marathon were involved in alleged war crimes, only that their visit has attracted controversy.
“These individuals must be questioned, investigated, and if the evidence warrants it, prosecuted,” the local Palestine network president Nasser Mashni said.
“They must not be allowed to walk our streets until the AFP is satisfied they are innocent.”
A source in the Jewish community said it was unfair to call for visiting Israelis to be subjected to special scrutiny if they do not face any specific allegations of wrongdoing, and that the runners were raising money for a good cause.
The Zionist Council of NSW, which helped to organise the visit, did not respond to a request for comment.
The Australian Centre for International Justice called for mandatory enhanced screening for Israeli nationals who have served in Gaza, the West Bank or Lebanon.
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Matthew Knott is the foreign affairs and national security correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X, Facebook or email.From our partners
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