The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have acknowledged that they “mistakenly identified” a group of aid workers in Gaza, after a video emerged showing clearly marked ambulances being fired upon by Israeli troops. The incident resulted in the deaths of 15 aid workers, with the bodies of eight medics from the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) recovered from a “mass grave” according to Jonathan Whittall, head of the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Initially, the Israeli military argued that their forces launched the attack because the vehicles lacked any headlights or emergency signals, making them appear “suspicious.” However, video footage provided by the PRCS and verified by Sky News, shows the ambulances and a fire vehicle clearly displaying flashing red lights. Following the release of this footage, the IDF issued a new statement.
They stated that the ambulances arrived at the Tel Sultan neighborhood in Rafah shortly after an exchange of fire between Israeli soldiers and individuals in a Hamas police vehicle, which left one person dead and two others captured. With the Hamas vehicle remaining on the side of the road, when the ambulances arrived, the soldiers mistook them for a threat and opened fire. The soldiers were “surprised” by the convoy stopping next to the abandoned vehicle and individuals hastily exit and flee.
The IDF further clarified that they were unaware at the time that these individuals were unarmed medics. They admitted that their previous statement claiming the ambulances had their lights off was incorrect, based on testimony from the soldiers involved.
The newly emerged video clearly shows the ambulances were identifiable and their lights were on, which the IDF’s re-investigation is currently looking into. Regarding the burial of the aid workers in a mass grave, the IDF stated that this was a common practice to prevent animals from disturbing the bodies.
Source: https://news.sky.com/story/idf-admits-mistakenly-identifying-gaza-aid-workers-as-threat-after-video-of-attack-showed-ambulances-were-marked-13342874
