The Israeli military has said its initial account of the incident where its forces killed 15 Palestinian emergency workers in southern Gaza last month was “mistaken”.
On 23 March, 15 paramedics and emergency responders were shot dead while on a rescue mission and their bodies were later discovered in a shallow grave a week later by officials from the United Nations and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS).
Initially, the military claimed that soldiers opened fire on vehicles approaching their position in the dark without emergency lights or markings, deeming them “suspicious”. The Israeli military claimed the PRCS vehicles were being used by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
However, video footage recovered from the mobile phone of one of the victims and released by the PRCS contradicted this account. The video showed emergency workers in uniform, operating clearly marked ambulances and fire trucks with lights on, being fired upon by soldiers.
Red Crescent and UN officials have said 17 paramedics and emergency workers had been dispatched to respond to reports of injuries from Israeli air strikes.
Read more: Israeli military changes initial account of Gaza medics killings
