Ambassador Yacov Livne has reportedly “changed tone” after initially claiming the bombing of the humanitarian convoy was not a war crime
Poland said on Friday that Israel’s envoy in Warsaw has apologized for the death of a Polish volunteer killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza this week.
Ambassador Yacov Livne was summoned by Warsaw over his “outrageous” remarks earlier this week. The Israeli envoy stated that the incident was not a war crime and accused Poles who think otherwise of anti-Semitism.
On Monday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out three consecutive airstrikes on a humanitarian convoy, killing seven foreign nationals working for the relief organization World Central Kitchen (WCK), including 35-year-old Damian Sobol from Poland.
“I handed over a note of protest to the ambassador. The ambassador apologized for this event, which has no precedent in the history of the civilized world,” Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Szejna told a press conference on Friday.
Livne reportedly informed Szejna that Israel’s top court would conduct a criminal investigation into the incident.
“There should be an investigation under the supervision of the victims’ countries under criminal law into this event, which bears the hallmarks of murder,” Szejna insisted, adding that Sobol’s family should also be offered compensation.
“The information we received so far [from Israel] is not satisfactory but we see this meeting as a change of tone,” Szejna said, noting that Livne would not be expelled.