Israel admits troops mistakenly killed 15 aid workers in Gaza

The Israel Defence Force (IDF) initially claimed troops had fired on “suspicious” vehicles with no headlights or emergency signals. The IDF also claimed the area was an active combat zone.

However, in its initial findings from its investigation of the attack, the IDF acknowledged that it was incorrect in its statement that the ambulances had their lights off, thereported.

In the footage, released by the PRCS, an ambulance and a fire vehicle with flashing red lights are clearly seen.

What the video shows

The video was filmed in the early hours of March 23, north of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip, Sky News reported.

It shows the convoy coming to a stop after another vehicle veers off the road, prompting aid workers to get out. Gunfire can then be heard for at least five minutes.

Eight members of the PRCS were killed, as were six civil defence members and one UN employee.

The investigation cites testimony from Israeli soldiers who were allegedly “surprised” by the arrival of a convoy of ambulances near an abandoned Hamas vehicle that had been engaged in combat several hours earlier. The soldiers testified they then opened fire on several “suspects” who ran from the area, and that they did not know the victims were aid workers.

Israel’s army also claimed that at least six of the victims were found posthumously to be Hamas operatives, the Times of Israel reported.

Accounts from Gaza suggest some of the group had their hands or feet tied and were executed with a shot to the head, which Israel denies.

Their bodies were found in a “mass grave” after the attack, according to Jonathan Whittall, head of the UN office for the co-ordination of humanitarian affairs.

The IDF claims in the investigation that troops informed the UN of the location of the mass grave after they discovered it.

The IDF on Saturday said the deaths were being looked at again in a “thorough examination”.

“All claims, including the documentation circulating about the incident, will be thoroughly and deeply examined to understand the sequence of events and the handling of the situation,” a spokesman said.

Before the footage surfaced, the IDF released a statement condemning “the repeated use of civilian infrastructure by the terrorist organisations in the Gaza Strip, including the use of medical facilities and ambulances for terrorist purposes”.

It said several members of terror groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad had been killed in the incident.

Emergency vehicles ‘visibly marked’

The IDF did not comment on the deaths of Red Crescent aid workers but said it had allowed bodies to be recovered from the area.

The PRCS said the new video had been found on a phone belonging to one of the killed aid workers.

The video “clearly shows that the ambulances and fire trucks they were using were visibly marked, with flashing emergency lights on at the time they were attacked”, a PRCS spokesman added.

The spokesman said: “This video unequivocally refutes the occupation’s claims that Israeli forces did not randomly target ambulances, and that some vehicles had approached ‘suspiciously without lights or emergency markings’.”

The president of the PRCS said it had asked for an “independent investigation” into the incident.

“I heard the voice of one of those kids. I heard the voice of one of those team members who was killed and his phone was found with his body and he recorded the whole event,” said Dr Younis Al Khatib at the UN on Friday.

“His last words before being shot: ‘Forgive me, Mum. I just wanted to help people. I wanted to save lives’.”

Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian Refugees, said the bodies had been “discarded in shallow graves [in] a profound violation of human dignity”.

In a report in the Guardian, Dr Ahmed al-Farra from the Nasser medical complex in Khan Younis said: “I was able to see three bodies when they were transferred to the Nasser hospital.

“They had bullets in their chest and head. They were executed. They had their hands tied.”

Others in Gaza corroborated the claims. Dr Bashar Murad, the PRCS’ director of health programmes in Gaza, said at least one of the other paramedics whose bodies were recovered had his hands tied.