The Israeli military on Sunday said a review into last month’s killing of emergency responders in Gaza found there had been “several professional failures” and that a commander would be dismissed over the incident.
The 15 paramedics and other rescue workers were shot dead on March 23 in three separate shootings at the same location near the southern Gaza city of Rafah. They were buried in a shallow grave where their bodies were found a week later by officials from the United Nations and the Palestinian Red Crescent.
In a statement on Sunday, the military said a commanding officer is to be reprimanded. A deputy commander, a reservist who was the field commander, will be dismissed from his position for providing an incomplete and inaccurate report, it said.
“The examination identified several professional failures, breaches of orders, and a failure to fully report the incident,” the military said.
“The fire in the first two incidents resulted from an operational misunderstanding by the troops, who believed they faced a tangible threat from enemy forces. The third incident involved a breach of orders during a combat setting,” it said.
The military advocate general was conducting its own investigation and criminal charges could be pursued, according to the military.
A video recovered from the mobile phone of one of the dead men and published by the Palestinian Red Crescent showed uniformed emergency responders and clearly marked ambulances and fire trucks, with their lights on, being fired on by soldiers.
Major General Yoav Har-Even, who conducted the review, told reporters that soldiers, from a special forces unit, had believed they were under threat after firing on what they initially determined as a Hamas vehicle but was in fact an ambulance. Two occupants were killed and a third was detained and questioned over suspected Hamas links.
The man was released the next day after further questioning.
The military says Hamas often conceals its activities amongst civilians and that there had been cases in the past where the militant group used ambulances to carry out operations. Still, it says soldiers are told to distinguish between genuine emergency vehicles and those used by Hamas.
Military spokesman Effie Defrin told reporters the incident took place in a “complex combat zone” but was clearly a mistake by the soldiers and there had been no attempt to cover up the incident, which was reported immediately.
In addition to the two killed in the first incident, Har-Even said 12 people were killed in the second shooting and another person was killed in the third incident.
Red Crescent and U.N. officials have said 17 paramedics and emergency workers from the Red Crescent, the Civil Emergency service and the U.N. had been dispatched to respond to reports of injuries from Israeli air strikes.
The military said in its statement that in the second shooting the deputy commander did not initially recognise the vehicles as ambulances due to what they said was “poor night visibility” and ordered troops to open fire on a group of individuals who emerged from a fire truck and ambulances.
In a briefing with reporters, the military presented drone footage of the incident which showed the unit of about 20 soldiers opening fire on a fire truck and ambulances from a distance of around 30 metres.
Har-Even said the soldiers had believed they were firing on a group of Hamas fighters and only realized they had shot paramedics when they conducted a scan of the site after the engagement.
Paramedic Munther Abed, who was detained by the military and later released, has said soldiers opened fire on clearly marked emergency response vehicles.
The Red Cross said on April 13 another Palestinian emergency responder was being held by Israeli authorities. The military said on Sunday that he is still in Israeli custody.
The military has said, without providing evidence, that six of the 15 emergency responders killed were later identified as “Hamas terrorists”. Hamas has rejected the accusation.
About 15 minutes after the soldiers opened fire on the group of emergency responders, the military said that soldiers fired at a Palestinian UN vehicle. The military blamed “operational errors in breach of regulation” for the incident.
“At dawn, it was decided to gather and cover the bodies to prevent further harm and clear the vehicles from the route in preparation for civilian evacuation,” the military said, adding that removing the bodies was reasonable “under the circumstances” but that crushing the vehicles was “wrong”.
“In general, there was no attempt to conceal the event, which was discussed with international organizations and the U.N., including coordination for the removal of bodies,” it said.
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