An Israeli probe into the killings of 15 Palestinian medics last month in Gaza has said it has found “professional failures” and that a deputy commander will be fired.
Israel at first claimed that the medics’ vehicles did not have emergency signals on when troops opened fire but later backtracked. Mobile phone footage recovered from one of the medics contradicted Israel’s initial account.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) investigation found that the deputy battalion commander, “due to poor night visibility,” assessed that the ambulances belonged to Hamas militants.
Video footage obtained from the incident shows the ambulances had lights flashing and logos visible, as they pulled up to help an ambulance that had come under fire earlier.
The teams do not appear to be acting unusually or in a threatening manner as three medics emerge and head toward the stricken ambulance.
Their vehicles immediately come under a barrage of gunfire that goes on for more than five minutes with brief pauses.
The Israeli Defence Forces admitted its initial explanation of an attack on Palestinian aid workers in Gaza was ‘mistaken’, as ITV News’ Ellie Pitt reports earlier this month
Warning: This video and article contain material that some may find distressing
Eight Red Crescent personnel, six Civil Defence workers and a United Nations (UN) staffer were killed in the shooting before dawn on March 23 by troops conducting operations in Tel al-Sultan, a district of the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
Troops then bulldozed over the bodies along with their mangled vehicles, burying them in a mass grave. UN and rescue workers were only able to reach the site a week later to dig out the bodies.
The head of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society has said the men were “targeted at close range.”
Israel’s investigation said the Palestinians were killed due to an “operational misunderstanding” by IDF forces and that a separate incident 15 minutes later, when Israeli soldiers shot at a Palestinian UN vehicle, was a breach of orders.
The probe said that troops did not engage in “indiscriminate fire” during the incident, but they opened fire on what they believed to be a “tangible threat”.
It was not immediately clear whether the military investigation found that any of those killed were Hamas militants. Israel’s military initially said nine were militants.
The investigation found that the decision to crush the ambulances was wrong but denied that there was an attempt to conceal the event.
“The examination found no evidence to support claims of execution or that any of the deceased were bound before or after the shooting,” it added.
As a result of the investigation, the commanding officer of the 14th Brigade received a letter of reprimand, while the deputy commander of the Golani Reconnaissance Battalion involved in the incident will be dismissed from his position for the incident, and for providing an “incomplete and inaccurate report” about what happened.
“The IDF regrets the harm caused to uninvolved civilians,” a statement read. “Existing protocols have been clarified and reinforced – emphasising the need for heightened caution when operating near rescue forces and medical personnel, even in high-intensity combat zones.”
Israel has accused Hamas of moving and hiding its fighters inside ambulances and emergency vehicles, as well as in hospitals and other civilian infrastructure, arguing that justifies strikes on them. Medical personnel largely deny the accusations.
More than 150 emergency responders from the Red Crescent and Civil Defence have been killed by Israeli strikes since the war in Gaza began, most of whom were on duty at the time, according to the UN, as well as over 1,000 health workers.
The Israeli military rarely investigates such incidents.
Palestinians and international human rights groups have repeatedly accused Israel’s military of failing to properly investigate or whitewashing misconduct by its troops.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society declined to comment on the IDF’s investigation, but, in the wake of the attack, it said the incident “can only be considered a war crime punishable under international humanitarian law, which the occupation continues to violate before the eyes of the entire world”.
The International Criminal Court, established by the international community as a court of last resort, has accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant of war crimes.
Israel, which is not a member of the court, has long asserted that its legal system is capable of investigating the army, and Netanyahu has accused the ICC of antisemitism.
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