The Israeli military has acknowledged “professional failures” and announced the dismissal of an officer following an incident in which its forces killed 15 unarmed emergency workers in southern Gaza the previous month. On March 23, Israeli forces shot and killed paramedics and first responders before damaging the ambulances, fire truck, and UN vehicle they were using, subsequently burying the deceased in a shallow grave.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society, employing eight of the victims, labeled the event as a “massacre.” Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, remarked that the incident heightened concerns regarding potential war crimes by the Israeli military.
On Sunday, the Israeli military’s investigation highlighted “several professional failures, breaches of orders, and a failure to fully report” the occurrences. However, it denied any attempt at a cover-up and insisted that troops did not fire indiscriminately nor execute any of the deceased. Among the casualties were six members of Gaza’s civil defense and one UN worker, in addition to the Red Crescent paramedics.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have revised several aspects of their account following the emergence of conflicting details. Initially, the IDF stated that soldiers targeted the convoy because it was moving “suspiciously towards [Israeli] troops” and lacked prior coordination, headlights, or emergency signals. This assertion was later proven incorrect when recovered footage from a deceased paramedic’s mobile phone showed the vehicles were clearly marked and had their lights and emergency signals on during the attack.
The IDF announced a commanding officer would face reprimand, and a deputy commander would be dismissed. Major-General Yoav Har-Even, who led the investigation, cited “mistakes” in the deputy commander’s recounting of the killings as a reason for his dismissal.
According to the IDF, the killings occurred across three incidents over several hours. Initially, troops mistakenly identified an ambulance as a Hamas vehicle and opened fire. They then targeted a convoy of ambulances and a fire truck seeking the initial victims, followed by firing at a UN vehicle arriving on the scene.
The military concluded that the firing during the first two incidents arose from an “operational misunderstanding” with troops perceiving a significant threat. The third incident involved a breach of orders in a combat situation. Har-Even confirmed no weapons were found on the deceased, who were all unarmed.
Nevertheless, the military, without supplying evidence, alleged that six victims were Hamas militants. None were named. It earlier claimed a militant named Mohammad Shubaki was among the deceased, a claim later retracted upon confirmation he was not among those killed. An official mentioned the error stemmed from misidentification by field-intelligence operatives, later corrected by higher-ranking officials.
The Red Crescent reported last week that a surviving paramedic was detained by Israel. The military confirmed this but offered no additional details. The ongoing Israeli offensive in Gaza has resulted in over 51,000 deaths, according to Palestinian officials, and has sparked a humanitarian crisis. This offensive was launched following Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack, during which militants killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostage, as stated by Israeli officials.
