The Israeli army has acknowledged flaws in its preliminary accounts of its troops’ involvement within the killing final month of 15 folks in southern Gaza who the United Nations mentioned have been all paramedics and rescue staff.
The admission got here on Saturday, the day after a video obtained by The New York Occasions appeared to contradict a key a part of the army’s earlier model of occasions. Whereas the army had mentioned it fired on the autos after they “superior suspiciously,” the video confirmed clearly marked ambulances and a fireplace truck.
The episode has drawn worldwide scrutiny and condemnation. After the blatant inconsistencies within the Israeli account have been revealed, the army appeared to maneuver extra rapidly than common to deal with the problem. Inside army inquiries into questionable lethal episodes can drag on for months, even years.
Right here’s what we all know to date:
The Israeli army’s model(s)
In its preliminary statements after the our bodies have been found, the army insisted its troops had opened fireplace as a convoy approached them in the dead of night “with out headlights or emergency indicators.”
However the video — found on the cellphone of a paramedic who was present in a mass grave — reveals that the ambulances and fireplace truck had emergency lights on as Israeli forces unleashed their barrage.
The army now says the preliminary account from forces on the bottom was “mistaken.”
Army officers had beforehand asserted that 9 of these killed have been operatives of Hamas or Islamic Jihad. They’d named solely one of many 9 and offered no proof for his or her declare.
On Saturday, a army official who briefed reporters on the preliminary findings of an inner inquiry mentioned not less than six of the 15 have been Hamas operatives however nonetheless didn’t present proof. The official spoke on the situation of anonymity underneath military guidelines.
Earlier than the encounter with the emergency autos, the official mentioned, reserve forces from an infantry brigade had been mendacity in ambush alongside a highway to the north of the Gazan metropolis of Rafah earlier than daybreak on March 23. At 4 a.m., they killed what the official described as two Hamas safety personnel and detained a 3rd.
Two hours later, as daybreak was breaking, the emergency convoy approached the identical spot. When the rescue staff started to depart their autos, the official mentioned, the Israeli forces believed that they have been Hamas operatives heading for them and opened fireplace from afar.
Amos Harel, a army affairs analyst for the left-leaning newspaper Haaretz, mentioned in an interview that the troopers had “good cause to be concerned” and that it might be mistaken to imagine instantly that the case was considered one of “homicide in chilly blood,” citing Hamas fighters’ frequent use of civilian infrastructure as cowl.
However the episode raises questions, Mr. Harel mentioned, concerning the troopers’ conduct and the model of occasions they reported from the bottom.
The army official denied reviews that a number of the our bodies have been discovered certain and shot at shut vary. He mentioned that the troops had buried the our bodies to protect them from wild animals and used heavy tools to maneuver the disabled autos off the highway, mangling them.
What the help teams say
Palestine Pink Crescent Society representatives mentioned final week that ambulances had set out round 3:30 a.m. on March 23 to evacuate Palestinian civilians wounded by Israeli shelling.
The Pink Crescent mentioned that an ambulance and its crew had been hit by Israeli forces and that a number of extra ambulances and a fireplace truck headed to the scene over the following few hours to rescue them. A U.N. automobile was additionally despatched, the United Nations mentioned.
Seventeen folks have been dispatched in complete, of whom 10 have been Pink Crescent staff, six have been emergency responders from Gaza’s civil protection service and one was a U.N. employee.
It took days to barter entry to retrieve the 15 our bodies. The Pink Crescent mentioned that one medic was nonetheless lacking and that one had been detained by Israeli forces and later launched.
The Pink Crescent mentioned Israel’s “focusing on” of its medics needs to be “thought of a warfare crime” and demanded an investigation. It added that the newest killings dropped at 27 the variety of its members killed through the warfare, which began on Oct. 7, 2023, with a lethal Hamas-led assault on southern Israel.
On Friday, the president of the Palestine Pink Crescent Society, Dr. Younis Al-Khatib, advised reporters that, based mostly on autopsies and forensic proof, the emergency staff had been “focused from a really shut vary.”
Response in Israel to date
The case has obtained broader protection in Israel for the reason that publicity of the video. Politicians have largely remained silent, maybe ready for the army to finish its inquiry.
Mr. Harel, the army affairs analyst, mentioned the inquiry was a primary check for the lately put in army chief of employees, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, concerning the army’s worldwide standing.
And the bigger query of accountability stays. Yesh Din, an Israeli human rights group, discovered final 12 months that of 573 circumstances of suspected warfare crimes in Gaza examined over the previous decade by the military, just one led to prosecution.
Gabby Sobelman contributed reporting from Rehovot, Israel.
