IDF troops are accused of carrying out 'summary executions' of 15 Gaza aid workers as Israel sacks deputy commander over the incident
Israeli troops have been accused of carrying out 'summary executions' of 15 aid workers in Gaza last month.
Eight Red Crescent personnel, six Civil Defense workers and a UN staffer were killed in the shooting before dawn on March 23 by troops operating in Tel al-Sultan, a district of the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
An internal military investigation suggested a chain of 'professional failures' that led to the incident, with a deputy IDF commander sacked as a result.
But Gaza's civil defence agency have rejected the findings of the army's internal probe following the release of a video showing the ambulances fired upon had their lights flashing and visible logos showing they were emergency vehicles.
Israel had claimed that the medical vehicles did not have emergency signals on when IDF troops opened fire, but backtracked after video footage recovered from one medic contradicted this account.
The 15 paramedics and rescue workers, which included at least one UN employee, were found in a mass grave in southern Gaza a week after the incident.
'The video filmed by one of the paramedics proves that the Israeli occupation's narrative is false and demonstrates that it carried out summary executions,' Mohammed Al-Mughair, a civil defence official, told AFP, a day after an Israeli army probe denied any execution-style killings.
He also accused Israel of seeking to 'circumvent' its obligations under international law.
The military investigation found that the deputy battalion commander, 'due to poor night visibility,' assessed that the ambulances belonged to Hamas militants.
The probe claimed there was 'no evidence to support claims of execution or that any of the deceased were bound before or after the shooting.'
It said the Palestinians were killed due to an 'operational misunderstanding' by Israeli forces, and that a separate incident 15 minutes later, when Israeli soldiers shot at a Palestinian UN vehicle, was a breach of orders.
The deputy commander who will be dismissed was the first to open fire and the rest of the soldiers also started shooting, according to the internal findings.
No paramedic was armed and no weapons were found in any vehicle, Major Gen Yoav Har-Even, who is in charge of the military's investigative branch, told journalists.
The army also said six of the aid workers killed were actually Hamas militants, but did not provide their names or give further evidence.
Last night the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and the Israeli rights organisation Breaking the Silence rejected the findings.
PRCS President Younis Al-Khatib said: 'It is incomprehensible why the occupation soldiers buried the bodies of the paramedics in a criminal manner.
'An independent and impartial investigation must be conducted by a UN body.'
'It is invalid and unacceptable, as it justifies the killing and shifts responsibility to a personal error in the field command when the truth is quite different,' Nebal Farsakh, a PRCS spokesperson, added.
'Not every lie has a video to expose it, but this report doesn't even attempt to engage with the truth,' a spokesperson from Breaking the Silence said.
'Another day, another cover-up. More innocent lives taken, with no accountability.'
Jonathan Whittall, a UN official in Gaza, added: 'A lack of real accountability undermines international law and makes the world a more dangerous place.
'Without accountability, we risk continuing to watch atrocities unfolding, and the norms designed to protect us all, eroding.'
Ahmed Dhair, the forensic pathologist in Gaza who carried out autopsies on 14 out of the 15 victims, said they were mostly killed by gunshots to the head and torso, as well as injuries caused by explosives.
He told the Guardian that he had found 'lacerations, entry wounds from bullets, and wounds resulting from explosive injuries', adding: 'These were mostly concentrated in the torso area – the chest, abdomen, back, and head.'
Some far-right voices in the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believe the army is going too far in punishing the soldiers.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel's ultranationalist national security minister, said the decision to dismiss the deputy commander was a 'grave mistake' that must be reversed.
'Our combat soldiers, who are sacrificing their lives in Gaza, deserve our full support,' he said.
The incident highlighted the dangers facing humanitarian workers operating in Gaza.
More than 400 aid workers and over 1,300 health workers have reportedly been killed in Gaza since the latest war broke out in October 2023, despite the requirement under international humanitarian law for humanitarian workers to be protected.
Last year, three former British servicemen were among the victims of an Israeli air strike which killed seven aid workers in Gaza.
Former Royal Marines James Henderson and John Chapman and an ex-Army soldier James Kirby were killed in a drone strike while providing security for the World Central Kitchen charity.
In February Healthcare Workers Watch (HWW), a Palestinian medical NGO, said it had confirmed that 162 medical staff remained in Israeli detention, including some of Gaza's most senior physicians, and a further 24 were missing after being taken from hospitals during the conflict.
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said Gaza was the deadliest place on Earth for humanitarian workers.
'Recent aid worker deaths are a stark reminder. Those responsible must be held accountable,' he said earlier this month.
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.
The Israeli military is currently investigating 421 incidents in Gaza during the war, with 51 concluded and sent to the Military Advocate General.
Israel's offensive has since killed over 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
The war has destroyed vast parts of Gaza and most of its food production capabilities.
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