Israeli soldiers ambushed and killed 15 emergency rescue workers in Gaza last month
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have admitted that their account of the killing of 15 Palestinian paramedics and rescue workers in Gaza was incorrect, multiple media outlets reported on Saturday, citing preliminary findings of the probe into the incident.
On March 23, a group of soldiers near Rafah fired at a convoy of Palestinian Red Crescent Society ambulances, a UN car, and a fire truck from Gaza’s Civil Defence.
The IDF claimed at the time that the convoy was traveling in the darkness with their lights off.
On Saturday, the New York Times released a cellphone video proving that the ambulances were clearly marked and had their headlights turned on, and that the paramedics wore reflective gear when they were fired upon in Rafah’s Tel Sultan neighborhood.
According to the Times, an IDF official said in a briefing to journalists later that day that the soldiers had “mistakenly” identified the rescuers as Hamas fighters. The official added that the incident “will be examined thoroughly and in depth.”
The Times of Israel cited the preliminary findings as saying that the IDF set up an ambush on the road at around 4am local time. About half an hour later, a Hamas police vehicle drove by and exchanged fire with the soldiers, who killed one militant and captured two others. At around 6am, the Israeli troops spotted the ambulance convoy and opened fire. A surveillance drone operator had earlier told them that the convoy was moving in a “suspicious manner,” the IDF said.
The IDF also said that at least six of the killed medics were posthumously identified by intelligence officials as Hamas operatives.
Last month, Israel resumed airstrikes and ground operations against Hamas in Gaza after the sides failed to agree on the implementation of the second phase of the ceasefire brokered by the US, Egypt, and Qatar in January.
