Australia Love to Send Weapon for Israel. So, 1 Australian Killed by Israel, 1 Other Australian Alive After Being Shot by Israel

Canberra 7.11pm

A West Australian former reporter now working for the United Nations Children’s Fund [UNICEF] is lucky to be alive after being shot at in Gaza.

After the murder of World Central Kitchen aid workers by Israel, it is now the United Nations children’s agency (UNICEF) who is facing Israel ‘’Killing Machine’’ with one of its vehicles hit by “live ammunition” as it was waiting to enter northern Gaza on Wednesday.

Tess Ingram, who worked for the Australian Financial Review’s Perth bureau and then this masthead before moving to New York to work for the United Nations in 2022, was in a UNICEF vehicle waiting to enter the north of Gaza when it was hit by live ammunition. Currently [according to her linkedin] Tess is Communication Specialist for UNICEF. Tess alive, but Zomi, Lalzawmi Frankcom, another Australian, killed 12 days ago by Israel, alongside 6 others crew of World Central Kitchen.

The three UNICEF and UNRWA cars were in convoy on a coordinated mission to deliver fuel to water wells in the north, and lifesaving nutrition and medical supplies to Kamal Adwan Hospital.

They left Rafah after some delays, got to a holding point before the checkpoint at Wadi Gaza, to a designated holding point where UN vehicles are made to wait until the checkpoint is ready to receive them, Ingram told Al Jazeera.

“We were waiting there when gunfire broke out in the vicinity,” she said.

“The gunfire came from the direction of the checkpoint towards civilians, who then ran away from the checkpoint, and the gunfire hit us. We were really lucky. We had some colleagues outside of the car checking a mechanical problem with the nutrition truck when the fire broke out, and they had to run back to our armoured vehicle. Fortunately, they were safe.

“But three bullets hit the car that I was in right on my passenger door the window and also the bonnet of the car. So this is just another example of how unsafe it is for humanitarian aid workers and how missions like these are made impossible.”

UNICEF said in a statement that the incident had been raised with Israeli authorities.

“Sadly, humanitarians continue to face risks in delivering lifesaving aid. Unless humanitarian aid workers are protected, in accordance with [international humanitarian law], humanitarian aid cannot reach people in need,” it said.

The Australian Government has previously stated that all export permit decisions 'must assess any relevant human rights risks and Australia’s compliance with its international obligations'. The refusal of a permit would be assured in cases where an exported product 'might be used to facilitate human rights abuses'.

On paper, this seems solidly reasoned and consistent with international humanitarian law. But Canberra has been a glutton for the Israeli military industry, approving 322 defence exports over the past six years. In 2022, it approved 49 export permits of a military nature, bound for Israel — in the first three months of 2023, the number was 23.

The drone used in the strike that killed Frankcom is the pride and joy of Elbit Systems, which boasts a far from negligible presence in Australia. In February, Elbit Systems received an A$917 million contract from the Australian Defence Department, despite previous national security concerns among Australian military personnel regarding its Battle Management System (BMS).

When confronted with the suggestion advanced by the Australian Greens that Australia end arms sales to Israel, given the presence of Australian spare parts in weaponry used by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), Wong displayed her true plumage. The Australian Greens, she sneered, were “trying to make this a partisan political issue”. 

With weasel-minded persistence, Wong again quibbled that “we are not exporting arms to Israel” and claimed Australian complicity in Israeli actions was “detrimental to the fabric of Australian society".

The Australian position on supplying Israel remains much like that of the United States, with one fundamental exception. The White House, the Pentagon and the U.S. Congress – despite increasing concerns about the arrangement – continue to bankroll and supply the Israeli war machine even as issue is taken about how that machine works. Former Defence Chief Mark Binskin has been appointed by Australian government as a special adviser to engage with Israel over its investigation into the killings of Australian Zomi Frankcom.

That much is admitted. The Australian line on this is even weaker. 

Rawan Arraf, from the Australian Centre for International Justice, said it was a matter of public record that Australian made parts were on "every F-35 fighter jet today, including Israel's F-35 jets which are being used in Gaza".

Kenneth Roth, former Director Human Right Watch, of course Jewish. About World Central Kitchen, in which, one of board WCK is Linda Roth, same Jewish, same ROTH.

Also holocaust survivor granddaughter, coincidentally student [studentin] Köln University / Universität zu Köln. Same university barred [Jewish] Nancy Fraser. Same ‘Roth’ sama Jewish like former HRW Director Kenneth Roth and World Central Kitchen Linda Roth.

"The Defence Department was proud of the achievement of these two companies (Ferra Engineering and Rosebank Engineering) and published this information in previous catalogues on Australia's role in the F-35 global supply chain program, which the department decided to quietly remove from its website in November 2023. It didn't go unnoticed by us however."

She was known to her family and friends simply as "Zomi".

"A bloody legend", is how NSW resident Karuna Bajracharya describes his friend, whose full name is Lalzawmi Frankcom.

For years, Frankcom had been working around the world with the non-government organisation World Central Kitchen to deliver food aid to people in need. On social media, her posts recounted visits to communities hit by flooding in Pakistan and Bangladesh, to helping Ukrainian refugees in Romania, and residents in Haiti.

READ MORE

Anthony Albanese demands accountability from Israel over death of aid worker in Gaza

Her last mission would be to feed hungry Palestinians in Gaza.

Frankcom, along with six other aid worker colleagues,

was killed by an airstrike near central Gaza's Deir al-Balah region on Monday

.

The Frankcom family issued this photo along with a statement paying tribute to Lalzawmi "Zomi" Frankcom (bottom centre), an Australian aid worker killed delivering food in Gaza.

Palestinian journalists on social media have posted pictures showing a woman's bloodied body with an Australian passport placed on her chest at a hospital in Gaza.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has demanded accountability for her death

, Israel's top diplomat in Australia has been requested for a call-in, while the Israeli military said it was investigating the reports of the aid worker deaths.

Family and friends shocked and horrified by Zomi's death

Her family described her as "brave and beloved".

"We are deeply mourning the news that our brave and beloved Zomi has been killed doing the work she loves delivering food to the people of Gaza," a statement from the Frankcom family said.

"She was a kind, selfless and outstanding human being that has traveled the world helping others in their time of need. She will leave behind a legacy of compassion, bravery and love for all those in her orbit.

"We are still reeling from the shock and we humbly request privacy during this difficult time".

Lalzawmi Frankcom, known to her friends as Zomi, worked around the world for the NGO World Central Kitchen. Credit: Supplied

How Bajracharya found out about his friend left him horrified.

"This (social media) feed came up and I didn't know what the post was about. I saw 'World Central Kitchen' and the second post had her passport on it," he told SBS News.

Bajracharya said his friend was a "larger than life" character and a caring person, saying she helped provide free meals and aid to communities in Braidwood after the Black Summer bushfires.

"That's the kind of person she was, if there was trouble somewhere she'd drop everything and be there.

"You could always hear her voice at a party, she had a big laugh."