Determining the truth in warfare is consistently challenging, an issue exacerbated in Gaza due to the ban prohibiting international journalists’ entry by Israel, thereby hindering direct observation of events.
Israel has repeatedly asserted that the Gaza Ministry of Health cannot be trusted as it is controlled by Hamas. Indeed, there have been instances, especially following significant airstrikes, when the initial death toll was found to be exaggerated. However, many analysts also speculate that the overall death toll, currently over 50,000, may be higher due to the unknown number of bodies buried under rubble.
The IDF has consistently claimed that it targeted schools and hospitals because Hamas was using them as command centers. Despite these claims, the IDF rarely provides evidence to substantiate such allegations following airstrikes.
The bodies of the eight Red Crescent medics were among the 15 recovered from a mass grave. Pic: Reuters
Hamas did construct an extensive network of tunnels under civilian structures, which I personally witnessed. However, the IDF rarely offers evidence to support its claims following airstrikes.
A notable number of Palestinian journalists courageously documenting the war have been killed. The IDF has accused some of them of being Hamas members but has seldom provided evidence to back up these allegations.
After the incident where 15 emergency and aid workers were killed and found buried in a mass grave, the IDF claimed they “did not randomly attack an ambulance” and asserted the vehicles were moving “without headlights or emergency signals.”
New footage obtained by the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and verified by Sky News contradicts the IDF’s account, undermining their credibility and raising serious questions about the conditions under which Israeli soldiers operate and the moral judgement of IDF commanders in Gaza.
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Aid worker attacks increasing
Genuine misidentifications can occur in warfare, and the loss of innocent lives is sadly inevitable. However, the information provided by the IDF following this incident suggests a possible cover-up somewhere in the chain of command.
Firstly, Israeli soldiers fired on a convoy clearly marked with ambulances; secondly, the bodies were buried in a mass grave with UN access denied for five days, and the statements issued later contradicted the now-verified facts.
More from Sky News:
Israeli troops expand ‘security zone’ in Gaza
What happened to the ceasefire?
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Bodies of aid workers found in Gaza
Only due to one of the paramedics recording footage on their way to their death, do we now know more about what happened that morning in late March. Without the video, it would have been the IDF’s account against that of the Red Crescent.
This is a significant stain on the reputation of an army, which has often claimed to be the most moral in the world, and it will be cited by many as evidence that Israel has committed war crimes in Gaza.
