Determining the truth during times of war is consistently challenging.
This has been notably the case in Gaza due to the international journalists’ ban on entering by Israel, which prevents direct observation of events.
Israel has consistently stated that the Ministry of Health in Gaza is untrustworthy as it is operated by Hamas.
In fact, there have been instances, especially after significant airstrikes, where the early reported death tolls have turned out to be overstated.
However, many analysts also suspect that the overall death toll, now over 50,000, might be even higher due to the presence of undiscovered bodies beneath the rubble.
The IDF has also consistently stated that it targeted schools and hospitals because Hamas used these locations as command centers.
The bodies of the eight Red Crescent medics were among the 15 recovered from a mass grave. Pic: Reuters
Hamas did create a vast network of tunnels under civilian buildings, which I have personally seen, but the IDF seldom provides evidence to substantiate its claims following airstrikes.
A significant number of Palestinian journalists, courageously documenting the war for the outside world, have been killed – again, the IDF has accused some of being Hamas members, but rarely provides evidence to support this claim.
Following this particular incident, when 15 emergency and aid workers were killed and found buried in a mass grave, the IDF spokesperson confidently stated that the IDF “did not randomly attack an ambulance” and claimed the vehicles moved “without headlights or emergency signals”.
The new footage, obtained by the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and verified by Sky News, completely undermines this statement.
This will now question the credibility of statements from the IDF. Serious inquiries will arise about the rules of engagement under which Israeli soldiers operate in Gaza and the morality of IDF commanders.
While genuine incidents of misidentification can happen in war, and the deaths of innocents are sadly inevitable, the information provided by the IDF following this incident suggests a cover-up somewhere along the chain.
Firstly, Israeli soldiers fired on a convoy of vehicles that were clearly ambulances; secondly, the bodies were buried in a mass grave, and access was denied to the UN for five days, and finally, the statements contradict the facts now known.
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It’s only because one of the paramedics was recording his journey to death that we know more about what occurred early in late March. Had the video not surfaced, it would have been the IDF’s word against the Red Crescent’s.
This incident significantly tarnishes the reputation of a military often claiming to be the world’s most moral army and will be cited as evidence by many believing Israel has committed war crimes in Gaza.
