The military investigation found that the deputy battalion commander, “due to poor night visibility”, assessed that the ambulances belonged to Hamas militants. Video footage obtained from the incident shows the ambulances had lights flashing.
Eight Red Crescent personnel, six Civil Defence workers and a UN staffer were killed in the shooting before dawn on March 23 by troops conducting operations in Tel al-Sultan, a district of the southern Gaza city of Rafah.Also read: Former Mossad and IDF veterans criticise Israel’s Gaza offensive
Troops then bulldozed over the bodies along with their mangled vehicles, burying them in a mass grave. UN and rescue workers were only able to reach the site a week later to dig out the bodies.The head of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society has said the slain men were “targeted at close range”.
The Israeli military investigation said the Palestinians were killed due to an “operational misunderstanding” by Israeli forces, and that a separate incident 15 minutes later, when Israeli soldiers shot at a Palestinian UN vehicle, was a breach of orders.
The investigation found that the decision to crush the ambulances was wrong but denied that there was an attempt to conceal the event.
“The examination found no evidence to support claims of execution or that any of the deceased were bound before or after the shooting,” it added.
Israel has accused Hamas of moving and hiding its fighters inside ambulances and emergency vehicles, as well as in hospitals and other civilian infrastructure, arguing that justifies strikes on them. Medical personnel largely deny the accusations.
Also read: Israeli strikes on Gaza kill more than 90 Palestinians in the last 48 hours
