Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) National President Morton A. Klein released the following statement:

The Biden administration’s harsh condemnations of the IDF’s erroneous drone strike on World Central Kitchen (WCK) vehicles on April 1, 2024, which tragically and accidentally killed seven WCK workers, ignored Hamas’ role in the incident and the U.S. armed forces’ own, worse record of numerous tragic accidental killings of civilians. The Biden administration should retract the inappropriately extraordinary harshness of their condemnation of Israel, especially when Israel does more to prevent civilian deaths than any armed forces in history. And they should publicly recognize Hamas’ role in tricking Israel in this situation and acknowledge that accidental and tragic deaths of this nature are not uncommon in the fog of war. America’s own record proves that.

Hamas’ Role in the WCK tragedy: Prior to the IDF strike on the WCK vehicles, Hamas terrorists climbed onto the WCK vehicles, fired in the air to draw IDF fire, and then separated from the WCK vehicles in a hangar. The IDF called the WCK offices nine times to confirm whether the vehicles were WCK or Hamas convoys, but no one answered the telephone. In the darkness, the IDF then tragically misidentified the WCK vehicles as Hamas vehicles.  (“6 Months of War: Did Israel Just Lose to Hamas?!,” Caroline Glick, In-Focus, JNS TV, Apr. 8, 2024.) Israel nonetheless immediately apologized profusely and held those who made errors responsible.

The U.S. Armed Forces’ Record of Numerous Tragic Accidental Killings of Civilians: Sadly, in the fog of war, mistakes and accidents happen. The U.S. administration should be the last to harshly condemn Israel for the accidental WCK tragedy, given the U.S. armed forces’ own record of numerous tragic mistaken killings of civilians – including in bombings of wedding parties, children, families, fleeing civilians, shepherds, a trauma hospital, a mosque, etc., etc. – thinking that they were bombing and killing terrorists. Below is a very partial list of a few of these many tragic incidents:

• On July 6, 2008, the U.S. military bombed a bride and her wedding party three times in Haska Meyna, Afghanistan, killing 47 civilians, almost all women and children, and wounding another nine civilians. The U.S. forces thought the wedding procession was a group of terrorists. The U.S. “plane came swooping low over the remote ravine. Below, a bridal party was making its way to the groom’s village . . ., to prepare for the celebrations later that day. The first bomb hit a large group of children who had run on ahead of the main [bride’s wedding] procession. It killed most of them instantly. A few minutes later, the [U.S.] plane returned and dropped another bomb, right in the centre of the group. This time the victims were almost all women. Somehow the bride and two girls survived but as they scrambled down the hillside, desperately trying to get away from the plane, a third bomb caught them.” (“I Was Still Holding My Grandson’s Hand – the Rest was Gone,” The Guardian, Dec. 15, 2008.)

• There were also previous U.S. bombings of wedding parties and other civilian gatherings. “Stories like this [bombing the wedding party in July 2008] are relatively common in today’s Afghanistan. . . . Last month [June 2008,] 27 people were killed when a wedding party was bombed near Kandahar. It was the third wedding party to be hit this year alone. . . . Last year a convoy of U.S. Marines hit by a bomb attack subsequently opened fire in a bazaar killing 16 people.” (Id.) In addition, the report described U.S. killings and bombings of civilian homes based on flimsy, bad intelligence that was not checked.

• These incidents continued. On November 3, 2008, U.S. fighter planes bombed yet another wedding party in Wech Baghtu, Afghanistan, killed 40 civilians (including 23 children and 10 women), wounded another 28 civilians, and destroyed the housing complex where the women and children had gathered to celebrate. (“U.S. Strike Reportedly Kills 40 at Afghanistan Wedding,” Fox News, Nov. 5, 2008.)

• On May 4, 2009, a U.S. B-1 bomber erroneously reportedly killed an estimated (according to the Afghani government) 140 civilians huddling in houses, in what was sometimes referred to as the Granai Massacre. The Pentagon admitted that the U.S. forces failed to follow procedures, including losing contact with the intended target and failing to reconfirm the target after circling around. (“U.S. Failed to Follow Rules in Afghan Bombing: Pentagon,” Sydney Morning Herald, June 9, 2009; “U.S. Military Admits Errors in Air Strikes that Killed Scores of Afghan Civilians,” The Guardian, Jun 3, 2009.)

• On September 2, 2013, a U.S. drone shot at a truck in Yemen, killing 12 civilians, including three children and a pregnant woman returning from a market. The U.S. was trying to target two Yemeni Al-Qaeda members, who were in a different nearby vehicle and escaped unharmed. (“Suspected U.S. Drone Strike Kills Civilians in Yemen, Officials Say,” Hakim Almasmari, CNN, Sept. 3, 2012.)

• On December 12, 2013, U.S. drones struck four vehicles in a wedding convoy in Al-Baitha province, Yemen, killing 14 civilians and injuring another 22 civilians, after mis-identifying the civilians as terrorists. (“Yemen says U.S. Drone Struck a Wedding Convoy, Killing 14,” CNN, Dec. 13, 2013; “Yemen: UN Experts Condemn Drone Strikes on Mistaken Wedding Processions,” UN News, Dec. 26, 2013.) The U.S. refused to acknowledge that its drone killed civilians, but quietly paid compensation to the victims’ families. (“The Wedding That Became a Funeral: U.S. Still Silent One Year On From Deadly Yemen Drone Strike,” by Lucy Draper, Newsweek, Dec 12, 2014.)

• On October 3, 2015, a U.S. AC-130 warplane destroyed a trauma hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, killing 42 patients and staff and wounding 229 patients and staff. Patients burned to death in their beds, while the warplane overhead fired on survivors fleeing the wreckage. After initial denials, the U.S. military ultimately admitted that they made a “tragic mistake,” called the incident a “tragic but avoidable accident caused primarily by human error,” and said that they had believed they were targeting a Taliban command and control center. (“U.S. Airstrikes Destroyed a Hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan. Six Years Later, It Is Reopening,” by Jessica Donati, Wall Street Journal, Aug. 6, 2021; “Mistaken Kunduz Airstrike Results in Greater Focus, Official Says,” U.S. Dept. of Defense, Dec. 2, 2016; “Campbell: Kunduz Hospital Attack ‘Tragic, Avoidable Accident’,” U.S. Dept. of Defense, Nov. 25, 2015.)

• On March 16, 2017, the U.S. fired four hellfire missiles and a 500-pound bomb on a building in a mosque complex, killing 46 to 49 people who were reported to be civilians and injuring another 100, in al-Jinah near Aleppo, Syria. A UN Commission stated that the U.S. did not do enough to verify the target even though they knew about it three days in advance, and failed to take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian deaths. CENTCOM claimed that an Al-Qaeda meeting was taking place there, but the UN commission and others’ findings did not support this. (“U.S. Airstrikes on Syria Mosque Compound Violated International Law, UN Says,” ABC News, Sept. 6, 2017.)

• On April 1, 2018, the U.S. Army shot a hellfire missile at a pickup truck carrying a mother and her four-year-old daughter in Somalia. When the mother and daughter tried to run away, the U.S. military launched a second missile at them, killing them. (“The U.S. Military Ignores and Neglects the Civilian Victims of Its Air Strikes,” The Nation, Feb. 2, 2024 (citing Airwars claim that U.S. strikes killed thousands of civilians in Somalia).

• On August 29, 2021, a U.S. hellfire missile strike killed 10 civilians in a vehicle, including a U.S. aid worker and seven children – some as young as two or three years old – in Kabul, Afghanistan. The U.S. military had watched the vehicle for eight hours without realizing that the occupants were civilians, and instead thought that the vehicle posed a terror threat. Three weeks later, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin admitted that the occupants of the vehicle were innocent victims and apologized for “this horrible mistake.” (“DoD: August 29 Strike in Kabul ‘Tragic Mistake,’ Kills 10 Civilians,” Dept. of Defense News, Sept. 17, 2021; “U.S. Drone Strike in Kabul Mistakenly Killed Civilians, Not Terrorists, Pentagon Says,” NBC News, Sept. 17, 2021.)

• During a later press briefing regarding the hellfire missile strike on 10 innocent civilians, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby also acknowledged: “As a military that has been at war for two decades, it is true we don’t get everything right all the time. . . . [W]e try to learn from mistakes.” (“Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby Holds An Off-Camera Press Briefing,” Dept. of Defense Transcript, Nov. 4, 2021.)

• Less than a year ago, in May 2023, the U.S. initially announced that the U.S. military had killed a major Al-Qaeda leader in Syria – but then had to walk this back when a Washington Post investigation found that the victim was really a 56-year old father of ten and former bricklayer who was tending sheep and had no terror ties. (“Jake Sullivan Pressed on Syria Drone Strike After U.S. Walks Back Claim it Killed Major Al-Qaeda Leader,” by Patrick Hauf, Fox News, May 21, 2023.)

• Just two months ago, on February 3, 2024, U.S. airstrikes on Iraq killed 16 and injured 25, including civilians. (“U.S. Airstrikes in Iraq Killed 16 Including Civilians – Iraqi PM’s Office,” Reuters, Feb. 3, 2024.”)