Israeli probe into the killing of Palestinian emergency workers finds 'professional failures'

The Associated Press

· Posted: Apr 20, 2025 12:31 PM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

An Israeli probe into its soldiers' deadly shooting of 15 exigency workers past period successful Gaza says it has recovered grounds of "professional failures" and a lawman commandant volition beryllium fired.

Israel astatine archetypal claimed that the Palestinian medics' vehicles did not person exigency signals connected erstwhile troops opened occurrence but aboriginal backtracked. Cellphone video recovered from 1 of the medics appeared to contradict Israel's archetypal account.

The subject investigation, released Sunday, found that the lawman battalion commander, "due to mediocre nighttime visibility," assessed that the ambulances belonged to Hamas militants. Video footage from the country shows the ambulances had lights flashing and logos disposable arsenic they pulled up to assistance different ambulance that came nether occurrence earlier.

The subject said a preliminary enquiry indicated that "the troops opened occurrence owed to a perceived menace pursuing a erstwhile brushwood successful the area, and that six of the individuals killed successful the incident were identified arsenic Hamas terrorists."

It did not supply grounds of however it determined that the six were Hamas militants, and the Islamist faction has rejected the accusation.

Eight Red Crescent personnel, six Civil Defence workers and a UN staffer were killed by the Israeli troops conducting operations successful Tel al-Sultan, a territory of the confederate Gaza metropolis of Rafah, earlier dawn connected March 23.

Troops past bulldozed implicit the bodies on with their mangled vehicles, burying them successful a wide grave. UN and rescue workers were lone capable to scope the tract a week aboriginal to excavation retired the bodies.

The caput of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society has said the slain men were "targeted astatine adjacent range."

The Israeli subject probe said the Palestinians were killed owed to an "operational misunderstanding" by Israeli forces, and that a abstracted incidental 15 minutes later, erstwhile Israeli soldiers changeable astatine a Palestinian UN vehicle, was a breach of orders.

No paramedic was equipped and nary weapons were recovered successful immoderate vehicle, Maj. Gen Yoav Har-Even, successful complaint of the military's investigative branch, told journalists.

The UN and Palestinian Red Crescent person demanded an autarkic inquiry.

The Israeli probe recovered that the determination to crush the ambulances was incorrect but denied that determination was an effort to conceal the event.

"The introspection recovered nary grounds to enactment claims of execution oregon that immoderate of the deceased were bound earlier oregon aft the shooting," it added.

A commanding serviceman is to beryllium reprimanded for his "overall work for the incident." A deputy commander dismissed for providing an "incomplete and inaccurate report" of the killings. It did not accidental if anyone would look transgression charges.

Israel has accused Hamas of moving and hiding its fighters wrong ambulances and exigency vehicles, arsenic good arsenic successful hospitals and different civilian infrastructure, arguing that justifies strikes connected them. Medical unit mostly contradict the accusations.