An investigation into the killings of 15 Palestinian medics last month in Gaza by Israeli forces said on Sunday it found “professional failures”, with a deputy commander set to be dismissed as a result.
The deputy battalion commander assessed that the medics’ ambulances belonged to Hamas militants “due to poor night visibility,” the military investigation said.
The Palestinians were killed due to an “operational misunderstanding” by Israeli forces. In a separate incident 15 minutes later Israeli soldiers shot at a Palestinian UN vehicle in what was a breach of orders, the investigation added.
Eight Red Crescent personnel, six Civil Defence workers and a UN staffer were killed in the shooting before dawn on 23 March by troops conducting operations in Tel al-Sultan, a district of Rafah in southern Gaza.
Israel initially claimed that the medics’ vehicles did not have emergency signals when troops opened fire, but later backtracked as cellphone video recovered from one of the medics contradicted this account.
The footage obtained showed the ambulances had lights flashing and logos visible as they pulled up to help another ambulance that came under fire earlier, and the teams did not appear to be acting unusually or in a threatening manner.
As three medics emerge and head toward the other ambulance, they immediately come under a barrage of gunfire that goes on for more than five minutes with brief pauses.
According to the investigation, the deputy commander was the first to open fire, before the rest of the soldiers joined in the shooting.
Bodies were buried in a mass grave
The bodies of the victims, along with their mangled vehicles, were subsequently bulldozed by troops, burying them in a mass grave in what the head of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society described as a deliberate act.
Dr. Younis Al-Khatib said the men were “targeted at close range.” However, the Israeli military investigation said its examination found “no evidence to support claims of execution or that any of the deceased were bound before or after the shooting.”
The investigation found that the decision to crush the ambulances was wrong but said there was no attempt to conceal the event.
The bodies and vehicles were taken off the road because the military intended to utilise it as an evacuation route later that day, according to Maj. Gen. Yoav Har-Even, head of the military’s investigative section.
UN and rescue workers were only able to reach the site a week later to dig out the bodies, after reportedly getting directions from the Israeli military.
The findings asserted that six of those killed were Hamas members and said some of the others were originally misidentified as Hamas. Israel’s military initially said nine were militants.
Israel accuses Hamas of hiding fighters in ambulances
The findings concluded by saying that Israel’s military “regrets the harm caused to uninvolved civilians.”
The one survivor was detained for investigation and remains in custody for further questioning.
It is not the first time that Israel has faced accusations of killing emergency and humanitarian workers in the Gaza war.
According to the UN, Israeli strikes have killed more than 150 emergency responders from the Red Crescent and Civil Defense, most of them while on duty, as well as over 1,000 health workers during the war.
Israel disputes ICC accusations of war crimes
Palestinians and international human rights groups have repeatedly accused Israel’s military of failing to properly investigate or whitewashing misconduct by its troops.
Former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have been charged with war crimes by the International Criminal Court, which was created by the international community as a court of last resort.
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.
