Nearly a month after 15 Palestinian paramedics and rescue workers were killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, the military has acknowledged that its soldiers made critical errors during the operation.
A summary of the internal investigation, released on Sunday by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), found that the troops fired on ambulances and fire engines operated by Palestinian emergency services in the city of Rafah on March 23 due to an “operational misunderstanding.”
The report said three armed incidents occurred in rapid succession that day in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, with the one involving rescue teams being the second.
The troops mistakenly “believed they faced a tangible threat from enemy forces,” the report said.
The Israeli military recommended disciplinary action against senior officers from the reconnaissance battalion involved. The battalion’s deputy commander, who oversaw the operation on the ground, will be removed from his position after providing an “incomplete and inaccurate” report about what happened.
His superior, the brigade commander, will receive a formal warning.
The deaths of the 15 emergency responders sparked international condemnation. Initially, the Israeli military claimed the ambulances were unmarked and not using their emergency lights.
However, two weeks after the incident, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society recovered a mobile phone belonging to one of the slain paramedics. Footage from the device showed clearly marked ambulances driving with blue lights flashing at the time Israeli forces opened fire on them.
The IDF subsequently launched the investigation.
In its report summary, the military said it “regrets the harm caused to uninvolved civilians.” But it also claimed that six of the 15 individuals killed “were identified in a retrospective examination as Hamas terrorists.”
