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Investigation Reveals Serious Failures in Israeli Shooting of Emergency Workers in Gaza
An inquiry by Israeli authorities into the lethal shooting of 15 emergency responders last month in Gaza has uncovered significant “professional failures.” As a result, a deputy commander is set to be dismissed from his position.
Initial Israeli claims suggested that the vehicles belonging to Palestinian medics were not displaying emergency signals when the troops opened fire. However, this narrative was later retracted. Recent evidence, including cellphone footage from one of the medics, challenges Israel’s original statements regarding the event.
The military probe, conducted and published on a Sunday, determined that the deputy battalion commander made a poor judgment call, mistaking the ambulances for those affiliated with Hamas militants, largely due to inadequate visibility at night. The retrieved video evidence clearly shows that the ambulances had flashing lights and identifiable markings as they approached to assist another ambulance that had previously come under fire.
The investigative report indicated that the troops opened fire as they perceived a threat after an earlier encounter in the region, claiming that six of the individuals killed were identified as Hamas terrorists. However, the military did not provide concrete evidence to support this identification, a claim that has been refuted by the Islamist faction.
On March 23, during operations in the Tel al-Sultan district of Rafah, Israeli forces killed eight members of the Red Crescent, six Civil Defence personnel, and a staff member from the UN. The tragedy unfolded just before dawn, raising immediate concerns from various humanitarian organizations.
In a deeply troubling turn of events, the bodies of the deceased, along with their damaged vehicles, were bulldozed and discarded in a mass grave. It took a full week for UN personnel and rescue teams to access the site to recover the remains.
The head of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society has asserted that the deceased were “targeted at close range,” a claim that adds to the urgency for accountability. The Israeli military’s investigation acknowledged that the fatalities resulted from an “operational misunderstanding.” Furthermore, another incident occurred shortly after the first shooting, where Israeli soldiers discharged their weapons at a UN vehicle, which constituted a clear breach of operations protocols.
Maj. Gen. Yoav Har-Even, who oversees the military’s investigative branch, reported that no paramedics were armed and that no weapons were discovered within any of the vehicles involved. The UN and Palestinian Red Crescent have since called for an independent investigation into the incident.
While the Israeli inquiry admitted that the decision to crush the ambulances was misguided, it denied any attempts to cover up the incident. The investigation concluded there was no evidence supporting claims of execution or that any of the deceased had been restrained before or after being shot.
In the aftermath, a commanding officer will face reprimands due to “overall responsibility for the incident,” and a deputy commander will be relieved of duty for providing an “incomplete and inaccurate report.” However, the investigation made no indication about potential criminal charges against anyone involved.
Israel has previously accused Hamas of utilizing ambulances and emergency vehicles to transport and conceal fighters, as well as misusing hospitals and other civilian infrastructure, suggesting that these claims justify military actions against such targets. Nevertheless, medical personnel continue to strenuously deny these allegations.
Source
www.cbc.ca