Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong acknowledged on Thursday that her country's relationship with Israel is facing "difficult times" following the decision by the Jewish state to close its criminal investigation into the killing of aid workers in the Gaza Strip, including an Australian national.
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"We have an Australian humanitarian worker who was killed not in the first strike, but across three separate strikes on a humanitarian convoy," Wong told reporters in Canberra following a meeting with Israeli Ambassador Hillel Newman, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Australia summoned the Israeli ambassador on Thursday, expressing outrage over the Israeli occupation army's decision not to take criminal action regarding the death of the Australian aid worker in a 2024 Gaza airstrike.
On Wednesday, the occupation army claimed it found no basis to open a criminal investigation into the deaths of seven aid workers belonging to the World Central Kitchen charity organization—including Australian Zomi Frankcom—following a fact-finding assessment process.
"This decision falls short of the accountability we expect," Foreign Minister Wong said in a statement, adding that Australia is "outraged" by the outcome.
"Democracies strive for higher standards and hold themselves to them. The Australian government will not cease pressing Israel for justice for Zomi and her colleagues," she added.
